Iain Archer

b. Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. Singer-songwriter and guitarist Iain Archer has been recording albums since the mid-90s, but only made an impact beyond his devoted fanbase with the release of 2004’s Flood The Tanks. Archer was raised in a musical family and by his early teens was playing the guitar and writing his own songs. He moved to Glasgow, Scotland, at the start of the 90s, and began to build up a following on the city’s live circuit. He recorded two folk pop albums that were well received but completely overlooked, and despite invitations to tour with John Martyn and David Gray his music career was foundering by the end of the decade. He relocated to London and began working in a hostel for the homeless. Fate was to intervene in the shape of Jonny Quin of fellow Irishmen Snow Patrol, who invited Archer to join the band for a number of live shows. Archer stayed with Snow Patrol and helped co-write three songs on their breakthrough album Final Straw (his songwriting credit on the hit single ‘Run’ led to an Ivor Novello Award in 2005). He also recorded with the Snow Patrol side project Reindeer Section. The influence of Snow Patrol was apparent on Archer’s new album, Flood The Tanks, which demonstrated a greater affinity with indie pop than his previous folk-tinged releases. The stand-out tracks included the wistful ‘Summer Jets’ and ‘Running In Dreams’. The Snow Patrol connection helped generate greater interest in the media, and the album was picked up for reissue by the independent label Play It Again Sam.