"It's that good": The Maccabees are big fans of this "amazing" Harry Styles song...
28 July 2026, 18:09 | Updated: 29 July 2026, 15:11
The Maccabees on new music, Harry Styles & return to Brighton | Radio X On The Beach
Orlando Weeks and Hugo White spoke to Dan O'Connell ahead of The Maccabees' headline set at Radio X's On The Beach, where they talked about everything from new music to the former One Direction star.
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The Maccabees think Harry Styles' As It Was is an "amazing pop song" and deserves to be played in "every bar and every taxi".
Frontman Orlando Weeks and guitarist Hugo White spoke caught up with Dan O'Connell before their headline set at Radio X's On The Beach on Saturday (28th July), where they were quizzed about the former One Direction star and asked if they thought he was inspired by them when creating his 2022 single.
Asked if they thought As It Was, which was produced by the band's friend and fellow musician Kid Harpoon - whose real name is Tom Hull - was "informed" by The Maccabees, Hugo replied: "I've heard that quite a lot from people, but I don't [...] I mean, it's an amazing pop song, isn't it?"
"It's, it's a great pop song," added Orlando. "Tom's amazing and I think that's one of those moments where a great pop star and a great artist in his own right works with great writers and they make something that sounds— makes total sense that it's on in every bar and in every taxi you get into.
"And, you know, it, it becomes ubiquitous because it's that good, and it's because the people that worked on it are that good."
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The pair also revealed if the band - completed by Felix White, Sam Doyle and Rupert Jarvis - are still working on new music and have discussed the possibility of a new album.
Asked if fans were getting getting any closer to a new record, Orlando replied: "Well, I mean, in, in that we're playing new stuff, it's, it's a big jump for us. Like, we hadn't played together for eight years, and then last summer we weren't ready to do any of that."
He added: "We didn't have any songs, and now we have some songs, and we have one that we're really confident and we're enjoying playing, and others that we've been working on whilst we've been away and we'll keep working on. That's the aim, is to try and do it, make it good enough, and then it'll happen, you know.
"It's actually been amazing to do these shows without [an album] you know," explained Hugo. "We're not out promoting something, or it's not like an album campaign, so that the pressure of all of that stuff stuff is off with these and it's just celebrating what the band was from the beginning."
He added: "It just gives us a chance to play the old songs and appreciate it. And, and then this, this run, yeah, getting some new songs in there has just given, yeah, I think that a hint of the future of it, that there is, there is more to it, you know."
The band went on to play a joyous 19-track set on the Brighton cobbles, which included hits from across their four albums; Colour It In (2007), Wall Of Arms (2009), Given to the Wild (2012) and Marks to Prove It (2015)—and of course their latest offering Ballad of So Long.
Watch them play out their set with Pelican below:
Stay turned to Radio X all week, where we'll be playing out interviews with all the bands on the line-up and stunning acoustic sessions from Lime Garden, Anna Calvi, Miles Kane, Ash, Badly Drawn Boy and Editors.
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- How Adele became The Maccabees' wedding singer...
- The Maccabees play emotional and triumphant homecoming reunion set at All Points East 2025
Felix White of The Maccabees answers your questions | Do I Wanna Know?
