When Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter released their debut album Reckless Burning in 2002, it was the finest set of songs we'd heard this side of Patsy Cline. But that was ten years ago, and as it quickly became obvious, neither Jesse or her band (first and foremost including Phil Wandscher, famous for being the other co-founder of Whiskeytown) were intent on settling for being just the next big alt.country thing. So they began hanging out with drone-rock bands such as Boris and doom-rockers SunnO))), the slow burning sounds of their timeless, romantic country songs making way for riffs that would make even Led Zeppelin look up, and today, as they return with their fourth album, Marble Son, Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter prove themselves either the most folky band in heavy rock, or the loudest band in folk music. In two days, they will start their short UK tour, so we caught up with Jesse for a chat about her recent move to Iowa, the joys of having the Fleet Foxes hang out in your back yard, and why it's completely okay to have Phil sign your Whiskeytown-record after the gig.