Introducing... Kites

Kites represent something rather exciting. Basking in the wake of a considerable wealth of press coverage from the likes of The Sunday Mirror and Time Out as well as having a support slot lined up with legend Peter Hook at Scala, the future looks bright for them. They even have a cool, flashy website.

Think of them as a mix of early New Order and OMD, especially on their track You Are (Dead To Me). With distinctive vocals, swirling synth hooks and lyrics full of wit, their songs chug along as if carefully cut and pasted together in a dimly lit factory; they're full of vigor and the rough-worn edges of labour. There's a real sense of artisanship to them.

Meanwhile, Take The Reins centres around bleepy electronics and low rumbling strings. As the guitar comes in a wintery beauty sweeps over the track, twinkling like stars in the dead of night. Here we have a sensitive ballad of the kind that so many bands try to pen, only to fail. This however sounds genuine and oh so fragile, a delicate sculpture of icy wonder.

It is on The Ddisappearance Of Becky Sharpe that they are at their strongest though, coming across half White Lies and half trippy acid house synths that could have comes straight out of The Beloved's Sweet Harmony. It's a meeting of three decades of British music in one glorious melting pot. As the synths swell up in the chorus and then again in the last minute of the song you get the sense of crashing waves of sound, raw and untamed - and that's the real strength of Kites; they're unpredictable, loose, innovative.

Just when you think you've got a handle on their tracks, some new element works its way in to the mix. In this respect, it could seem easy for them to lose their way, for everything to fall apart into its constituent elements. But it never does, the tracks stand tall and proud, gleaming constructs of skillful songwriting.

The Kites' previous single The Seamstress is also available to download from iTunes.

Visit The Kites' website at http://www.wearekites.com/


KITES - EP - KIT0003 by Kites