Biography
British Whale is the name of a pop rock musical project that has been one of Justin Hawkins' (from Hot Leg and The Darkness) solo outlets. In contrast to Hawkins' other work, British Whale has had a lighter, deliberately humorous pop sound (akin to early new wave music) that's clear in the two singles "This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us" (a cover of Sparks' 1974 hit) and "America". Hawkins' project landed in the UK singles chart at #6, the two-sided release picking up many fans despite its dissimilarity with his previous songs.
British Whale's second single, released just before the 2006 World Cup, was the download-only "England". The track featured the German national anthem in the chorus, and its controversial lyrics ('We fought them on the beaches'/'Now we'll play them on the field') brought snark from some critics. Still, he recieved praise from many fans for being openly against musical "political correctness", and Hawkins soon recorded more tracks as British Whale.
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An album's worth of original material came about and was expected to be released in the summer of 2006, potential titles including 'Pretentious, Moi?' and 'Wurst Case Scenario'. Then, Hawkins confirmed that it was to be called 'Snatching Defeat From The Jaws Of Victory' during an interview with MTV Germany at the Rock Am Ring festival. Hawkins didn't play any live dates as British Whale, but he hinted that brother Dan would play guitar when it would eventually get out on the road.
As time went on, the rumoured album did not surface, and British Whale became a dormant project. As of 2015, Hawkins has been touring successfully with The Darkness. While future solo works of some kind are likely to come out, things currently appear unclear.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.