The Razorlight<\/a> frontman was, in fact, talking about his band\u2019s own hit single, \u201cBefore I Fall to Pieces\u201d. Featured on their second album, the self-titled Razorlight, the jangling guitar track was branded by Borrell as the catalyst for what we now refer to as \u201clandfill indie\u201d, that heady scene of sticky dancefloors, sweaty side-fringes and jeans so skinny they cut off your circulation. \u201cI think the second Razorlight album definitely opened the way for a flood of mediocrity in UK music,\u201d he declared. <\/p>\n \u201cLandfill indie\u201d was a disdainful term coined in The Word by journalist Andrew Harrison in 2008. But two years earlier, in the summer of 2006, British bands ruled the roost: Arctic Monkeys had already set the world alight with their debut, Whatever People Say I Am, That\u2019s What I\u2019m Not, Muse were about to top the charts again with Black Holes and Revelations, and Coldplay were concluding their huge Twisted Logic Tour off the back of two major Brit awards for their third album, X&Y . Skinny jeans, scarves and slogan T-shirts (all from Topshop) were in, as was smudged eyeliner and the side fringe; Camden boozer the Hawley Arms was the place to be, especially when Amy Winehouse was holding court. The Libertines had split in 2004, but Pete Doherty was still a tabloid fixture thanks to his chaotic personal life. And Razorlight had the biggest album of their career, thanks in part to hit singles like \u201cIn the Morning\u201d, \u201cAmerica\u201d and, yes, \u201cBefore I Fall to Pieces\u201d. <\/p>\n Borrell is revisiting the album as it celebrates its 20th anniversary. Not just the music, but all of it \u2013 the mixed reception (NME gave it 8\/10 but also nominated it for Worst Album at their awards show the following year), the backlash from fans as Razorlight \u201cwent commercial\u201d, and the fist-fights between bandmates as they tussled with their newfound success and which direction they should go next. The frontman, who now lives in France, says it all feels like \u201c300 years ago\u201d. In the past he and the rest of the band have been on the outs \u2013 drummer Andy Burrows once claimed that working with Borrell was \u201chell\u201d \u2013 but the four original members are returning to their divisive second album with an anniversary tour, a vinyl reissue of the album and a new documentary.<\/p>\n I ask Borrell what he remembers from that time. \u201cI could not believe what was going on \u2013 Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, George W Bush\u2026 the Iraq War, Afghanistan. And I thought, the military industrial machine of the United States, how could it be any worse?\u201d he says. But no one wanted to talk to him about any of that. In Razorlight\u2019s vintage era, his interviews were the stuff of legend:<\/a> he proclaimed himself a \u201cgenius\u201d in his first interview with NME in 2004, while promoting Razorlight\u2019s debut album Up All Night, then threw in the immortal line: \u201cDylan is making the chips, I\u2019m drinking the champagne.\u201d (He\u2019s previously insisted he was regularly misquoted.)<\/p>\n I wonder if there was any part of him that relished his status as indie\u2019s cockiest frontman. \u201cBack then there wasn\u2019t any social media, so if you wanted to communicate with your fans in any way, there was no other option,\u201d he shrugs, possibly forgetting MySpace. \u201cHad there been socials back then, I definitely would have stopped doing interviews in about 2005, 2006, because at times I was just furious. When people put what you\u2019ve said across in a way that is just not what you\u2019ve said\u2026 that was what was infuriating, and it used to happen all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s no surprise that critics viewed Borrell as an easy target for ridicule, particularly when their second album propelled them from a modest success story \u2013 their first album hit No 3 on the charts and spawned a handful of singles, including \u201cGolden Touch\u201d \u2013 to a mainstream triumph (so not rock\u2019n\u2019roll). It debuted at No 1 in the UK and also produced their first and only No 1 single, \u201cAmerica\u201d. Critics hated the track: one branded it \u201csoft rock hell\u201d while others criticised what they called \u201cfaux-sentiment\u201d, an attempt at serious political commentary from someone they believed had no right to do so. One dissenter was The Independent\u2019s late critic, Andy Gill, who in his five-star review praised the track\u2019s \u201cbillowing, Springsteen-esque climax\u201d and the band\u2019s acknowledgement of \u201ca general sense of dissociation from the country\u2019s cultural mores\u201d. <\/p>\n![\"Johnny](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-71964941.jpg\")
Johnny Borrell (third from left): \u2018I think the most confusing place I\u2019ve ever been in my life is the mainstream\u2019 (Getty Images)<\/p>\n
![\"In](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-74097015.jpg\")
In the spotlight: Borrell with Kirsten Dunst at the 2007 Met Gala in New York City (Getty Images)<\/p>\n