sentences:  Freeman was influenced predominantly by post-punk pop and rock bands (such as Scritti Politti, Associates and Cocteau Twins), and Thieves blended this with McAlmont's own gospel and soul influences to create a lush and highly textural pop music drawing equally on "black" music and "white" avant-garde indie rock.Freeman and McAlmont opted to remain as a duo, using detailed backing tapes and programmed percussion tracks (Live, Freeman concentrated on playing strongly-processed electric guitar).Thieves began playing concerts in small London venues, where they immediately began to attract attention.