Idlewild are a Scottish rock band formed in December 1995, by Roddy Woomble (vocals), Rod Jones (guitar), Phil Scanlon (bass), and Colin Newton (drums).
Initially their sound obeyed the conventions of 1990s British indie-punk guitar music, but unlike many of their contemporaries, it developed over time, from an edgy and angular sound approaching post-hardcore, as heard in their early material (once described by the NME as "the sound of a flight of stairs falling down a flight of stairs"), to a different, sweeping, melodic rock sound as displayed on their third album The Remote Part. Idlewild's sound cannot be easily placed into a specific genre, though they have clearly been influenced by bands like Blur, Nirvana, Gang Of Four, R.E.M., The Smiths and Fugazi.
Part of Idlewild's early success can be attributed to their singles gaining heavy rotation on Steve Lamacq's Evening Session on BBC Radio 1, as well as his all-round endorsement of them - the diminutive DJ often cites them as one of his favourite bands.
On November 21st 2005, Idlewild announced that after eight years and four albums they were parting ways with their record label Parlophone/EMI. Part of the band statement reads 'The band had fulfilled their record contract and it seemed like a good time to move on.' Since then, they have signed to Sanctuary and released their latest album Make Another World on March 5th 2007.