Around a decade ago, I had the great privilege of working with electro-pop band Scarlet Soho, releasing their debut album through my record label and driving them around the country on tours to promote it. I’d been a fan of them since they sent me their debut single No Encore recorded multiple times over one side of a Jackson 5 greatest hits cassette in 1999. Actually getting to put out their music myself, and see how their career grew in the years to follow, is something that made me very proud.

So, I was very happy to be asked to write the liner notes for their new best of and rarities compilation Hit The Floor. You should buy yourself a copy on Bandcamp, but if you want to see the words I wrote that are printed on the inside cover right now, here they are…

It may not be such an unusual sight now, with many acts happily straddling the worlds of pop and indie, but when I first met Scarlet Soho, no one else was doing what they were doing. At a time when going to a gig always meant watching three near identical guitar bands, Scarlet Soho shunned that idea of what a band should be, got in a van with some synths and a drum machine and played pop music to those same audiences.

It's hard to describe now the range of responses they received. There was a time when you could guarantee that at least one person in the audience every night would shout, “Where's your drummer?” Like the band hadn't noticed they were a man down. It didn't matter that Scarlet's fuzzed-up bass lines provided sharp grooves to counter those clinical drums, or that James' warm, souring vocals shot over expansive guitars. Or even that the songs these parts went together to make up were always smarter, catchier and simply better than any of the tired sounds their contemporaries were making. Some people just weren't ready for the step forward Scarlet Soho were making.

But plenty were, and the band built up a solid network of fans around the country, desperate for something different.

Influenced as much by Faith No More as they are by The Human League and Depeche Mode, Scarlet Soho have always known how to mash genres to create perfect pop. And, like those bands, they stamp their own clear sound and personality on everything they do.

The band released their debut album, Divisions Of Decency, through UK indie label Human Recordings in 2004, bringing them to the attention of bands including Razorlight, Delays and IAMX, all of whom personally requested for Scarlet Soho to join them on tours. The dates took them around the UK and Europe, with gigs supporting IAMX at a sold out show at London's legendary Scala venue, and headlining the very first MySpace Live event in Berlin.

In 2008, they signed to Hamburg-based label Major Records, home to IAMX and Ladytron, who released the second Scarlet Soho album, Warpaint, in 2009. A clear progression from their debut, the band were more comfortable and confident in their sound and their songwriting, evident in tracks such as Analogue Dialogue (Kill The Beat) and the epic This Nausea.

Further time on the road ensued, with their own headline European tour followed by UK dates with 80s legends A Flock Of Seagulls, and a Europe-wide outing with Zoot Woman playing to crowds of around 1000 people a night.

A third album was now on the cards, and two limited edition EPs – When The Lights Go Out and Solo KO – saw the band return to Europe with Kosheen and O Children, plus make their first appearance at WGT Leipzig in 2013. Back in the UK finishing up the album, Scarlet Soho’s fanbase continues to grow with every record and every show. And just as they pre-empted the resurgence of intelligent pop, they are pre-empting its next move as we speak.

Andy Malt