The Veils (formed in 2002) are a New Zealand band based in London, fronted by Finn Andrews. Their sound has been compared to artists as diverse as Jeff Buckley, The Birthday Party, The Smiths, and Joy Division.
Their live shows have become famed for their emotional intensity and Finn's often scarily possessed stage presence.They released their debut album, The Runaway Found, in Spain late in 2003. The first single from the album, Lavinia, was released through Rough Trade on November 24, 2003.
They released the album globally in January 2004 with a different track listing. It went gold worldwide the following year.The original lineup of The Veils (which included Oli Drake, Ben Woollacott and Adam Kinsella) disbanded in late 2004, and Andrews returned to New Zealand in order to find a new lineup.
He spent the New Zealand summer rehearsing with high school classmates Liam Gerrard (keyboards) and Sophia Burn (bass), and the trio returned to London early 2005. There they got connected to Dan Raishbrook (Guitar) and Henning Dietz (drums).
However Liam Gerrard left the band half way into their American tour in 2007.The group recorded their second album Nux Vomica at Underbelly Studios in Los Angeles, with producer Nick Launay, and the album was released September 18, 2006.
The album features string arrangements by ex-Lounge Lizard and long time Lou Reed collaborator Jane Scarpontoni. Nux Vomica featured on 9 critics' Best Of The Year lists in 2006.In the 16 months following the release of Nux Vomica The Veils played over 250 shows across 15 countries and during the U.
S. leg of the tour it was announced that keyboardist Liam Gerrard would leave the band to return home to New Zealand due to personal reasons. The Veils carried on as a four piece and, whilst living out of a classic car garage in Oklahoma City, started recording new demos between playing shows on the east and west coasts of the America.
By mid-2008 they were back to London to begin work on their third album with producer Graham Sutton. The recording sessions at West Point Studios lasted only three weeks and at the end of the summer the album was done and ready to be mixed.
In March 2009 they began touring the new songs in Europe and America with new drummer Raife Burchell (of Jetplane Landing), after Henning Dietz' defection. Sun Gangs was released on April 6 2009 and was featured in many websites top albums of 2009.
The band spent the summer of 2010 working on new material. On December 6 it was announced that a new 7 song EP entitled Troubles of the Brain is set to be released on January 24, and that the band had left Rough Trade after almost 9 years and started their own label, Pitch Beast Records.
The EP is produced by Finn Andrews and Bernard Butler and was recorded at Finn's home studio in London. In mid 2012 The Veils threatened legal action on UK hardcore band Veils due to the similarity in name.
This forced Veils to alter the spelling of their name to Vales.The Veils will be releasing a new record, ‘Time Stays, We Go’ in April 2013.
