If you enjoyed the recent efforts from Enter Shikari and Korn, you might be rather partial to HavocNdeeD. A bit of a mouthful to say, but their music is pretty impressive, and their Distoria EP is out on the 10th July. Expect big, spacious soundscapes incorporating plenty of rock wobble and a surprising abundance of solid rock hooks. Think Chase & Status with more guitars, with just the right dose of ethereal mystique.
Featured as a BBC Introducing artist-of-the-week earlier this year, it’s fair to say Angus Powell is blessed with a bit of classic Welsh musicality. Upside Down, one of a selection of taster tracks from his upcoming debut EP abounds with a folky lilt, while managing to keep itself firmly rooted in radio sensibilities. It’s half-way through where the real magic happens though, a haunting, unfolding soundscape of rural wilds and open space. It lingers at the edges of the senses, beautifully elusive. Monsters follows along similar lines, the production twinkling with a quality rare for self-produced efforts. Tender and thoughtful, Powell’s EP feels like it could fit in well alongside the likes of Ben Howard’s recently acclaimed Every Kingdom.
He’s toured with Dragonette and can already boast remixes of Owl City and The XX to his name – but with Eric Solomon’s debut EP, there’s no doubt his eyes are now firmly set on stepping things up to the next gear. Tracks like Addicted brim with a muscular confidence and the promising spark of a potential major male solo star of the future to stand alongside, and perhaps one day even surpass, the likes of Sam Sparro and Adam Lambert.
Likewise, the EP’s lead track Ground Control is the kind of snappy, electrically-charged synth-pop number that could easily give Taio Cruz a run for his money. With a knowing nod to David Bowie’s Space Oddity, it jumps out with a look-at-me attitude and the kind of urban cred designed to grease the palms of radio playlisting committees.
I Found Love riffs off Ace of Bass vibes, but maintains a distinctly modern demeanour, funked up and tooled up with a dancefloor vigour that feels impressively well-rounded for a debut effort. With this kind of consistency already in evidence, it’s no wonder he’s already swayed over 5000 Twitter followers to his cause.
Growing up in Sheffield, pretentions to putting together a laddy guitar group must feel forever overshadowed by the Arctic Monkeys, every aspect and component judged against the Mardy Bum stars and the sea-change they helped usher in some half a decade ago. Thankfully, Twin Bears sound nothing like the Arctic Monkeys – no, they fall far more within the Vaccines/Maccabees/Howler sweep of things; angular, rough-edged indie ditties that encompass schooldays brouhaha and teenage phases. Libertines-tinged By The River is a particular highlight of the band’s Angel Bread EP, while You Got The Fire sees them on a more sonically adventurous tilt, a band not content to be confined by their predecessors.
She’s the seaside girl putting a poetic lilt to whimsical, folky pop – but for Jennifer Left, her music feels like it’s jumping at the bit to strike up a campfire and regale all with its inherent charm. New single Black Dog is like a British Caro Emerald with a quaint little whistle-hook, a cutesy indie-pop bit of frippery that feels well suited to idyllic summer months. Left's music is fundamentally playful, but there’s moments of something more, tucked away in the smoky, flanged guitar licks in the bridges between verse and chorus. The track’s b-side Hushabye treads a similar path with more whistling and the vaguely haunting chime of guitar against a backdrop of halcyon strings. It’s a whispered bed-time story of sepia-toned days and Left’s sugary vocals lend it a surprisingly moving resonance.
There's something enchantingly captivating about Gary Stewart's vein of folk, captured here on this four track EP with apt professionalism. There's the achingly sad minimalism of Eve Master - caresses of strings underscoring a slow lament of tear-racked emotion. But there's room for versatility here too, Stewart flips the formula on its head on Green Master, an up-beat romp of sunny May-day proportions that'll come as sweet nectar to any whose appetite is whetted by the likes of Mumford & Sons. Closing number Blue Master is the most accomplished track here, bringing all the component elements of Stewart's sound together in one singularly charming moment. The Year and a Day EP excels in its natural unfusiness, content to do what it does without overagrandising gimmicks or strained politicism. Instead, it's a contently contained hymn of the earth and the air, an EP born of organic processes, and resonating with all the subtle power that might entail.
The latest in a rush of British folk-pop troupes, Midlands group Boat To Row establish themselves very much within the Mumford mould on their new EP Grassmarket, all violins and uplifting acoustic guitar. It’s gutsy, rustic music for the heart, a brothy tonic of an EP. And with Dry The River’s debut effort proving rather popular at the moment too, Boat To Row not only slip nicely alongside, but really establish their own patch too.
Working Class has a lovely sort of jaunty swagger to it and the EP’s title track is even better, a sweetly rollicking little number of such pretty charm it feels like it’s about to blow away in your hands like blades of grass.
The EP’s hand-drawn cover is rather lovely too, and fits in to the pastoral aesthetic of the songs, as does the simple elegance of the title, which trips of the tongue beautifully. All very promising indeed for the group then, who’ve already garnered Radio 2 airplay and have just polished off a tour supporting Dog Is Dead.
Heartfelt singer-songwritery stuff from 26 year old Tomos Lewis, debut EP Four Songs feels grounded in the earthy Welsh hills of Lewis’ youth, while in its best moments recalling echoes of Dylan via Damien Rice. Lead track I Died Deep Inside starts from hushed beginnings to layer on a surprisingly moving chorus and sweetly tuneful guitar lines. Four Songs feels big, hearty, for an EP; far wiser than Lewis’ scant years, with standout track What’s A Man To Do verging into alt-rock territory for a real Ryan Adams vibe. Gently subdued, but with a profound maturity often glossed over by up and coming songwriting talent these days, Tomos Lewis’ debut shines with a world-wise confidence befitting his self-evident skills.
The debut EP from London singer songwriter Andrew Butler, for all its starry night campfire folk riffing, feels profoundly big. With its transatlantic sound, blending effortlessly between the idylls of rural England and mid America, feels brave and all encompassing – an open invitation for any listener to draw up an easy chair, sit down and enjoy. Songs like Wars of the Heart draw the focus back to the simple things in life, the pleasures of good company and sweet reminiscing.
Music this good, this richly textured, is made for a TV scale – even as the first delicate refrains of A Thousand Words creep in you can imagine it soundtracking some crisp autumnal scene in a well-made drama. The tender, almost apprehensive plucking of the guitar strings against the slow swell and ebb of strings is pitched to an emotion tugging ambience that’s arrestingly disarming. Speaking from the heart and the tips of fingers, Butler makes real stop and stare music, stuff that needs to be breathed in, absorbed, circulated – all distilled right down to the essence of what makes great folk tunes.
Butler’s Johnny Cash cover Guess Things Happen That Way is available to download for free.
The February 14th EP is, you guessed it, released on the 14th February.
Huw Stevens’ championed newcomers Evening Chorus tap neatly into the current affectation for all things whimsical and folky, turning out new EP Acorn that feels like a natural companion to Dry The River’s forthcoming debut effort.
Blue Stone Heart is tender, sweet – an organic opening to an EP that sounds profusely organic. Four Corners ups the pace, a rollicking, rambling ditty of a track that leans closer to Mumford & Sons with its big, hearty verses. Only five tracks long it might be, but Evening Chorus’ Acorn EP is a real meal of an EP, richly fulfilling beyond its short running time.
Old fashioned guitar licks and proper post-punk revivalism are the order of the day on Damn Vandals new EP The Beautiful Mind.
Grittier than Editors or Interpol ever were and boasting a deep resonance far removed from the band's scant two years in existence, the EP's title track is a rich, involving piece. It all makes for a darkly enticing appetiser for the band's debut album, set for a June release later this year.
The band have already made an impression on the likes of Time Out and BBC Introducing and wrapped up in the heart of both the EP and their music as a whole is lead singer Jack Kanas' voice. With the current market for UK rock acts crying out for something of proper solidity, Damn Vandals boast all the elements to make a genuine go of things.
The antithesis to watered down indie-clones, the EP plays like a statement of determined intent that continues right through the muscled, brooding power of He Pulls A Knife and its lyrics of 'cocaine love'. Bleakly intoxicating, but in all the right ways.
The Beautiful Mind EP is released on the 27th February.
The band are set to play the following live dates:
Weds 18 Jan @ TheBowery, 36-38 New Oxford St London WC1A 1EP.9.30pm
Sat 4 Feb @ The Workshop, 243 Old St, London,EC1V, 9pm
Tues 14 Feb @ The Buffalo Bar, 259 Upper St, London N1 1RU, 10pm
Thurs 1 March @ The Underbelly, 11 Hoxton Square, London N1 6NU, 9pm
Fri 6 April @ The 12 Bar Club, 26 Denmark St, LondonWC2H 8NL, 9pm
He's been labelled as 'organic electronic dream music'. It's a prettty good fit. But for Swedish artist Fiktion, his latest creation: 'I en trästuga utan ström med tända stearinljus efter att snöstormen har lagt sig.' (Yes, the title really is that long!), being organic isn't just about sounding good, it's about as creating the most mysterious, involving soundscape impossible.
Straddling a hazy borderline between jazz-esque interludes and swerving synth-pop lines, the six track EP is at once both beautifully simple and impossibly complex. First impressions belay a rich, deep pool of interwoven noise, so intricate and carefully placed in its creation - but where Fiktion creates his real charm is in the melody.
Music of this disparate kind could so easily fall apart in chaotic pieces, yet Fiktion remains stood resolutely in the middle, conducing these assorted elements into a whole. The result? Crystalline guitar playing ringing out like drops of rain on a parched desert landscape, tears in the very fabric of noise. It's beautiful, moving stuff, and all stemming from wordless, expertly crafted electronica.
Observing The Ghost know a thing or two about true grit. Their debut EP We Will Find The Sun is dripping in the kind of staunch, steely-eyed toughness that'd have most up and coming bands quaking in their boots.
Most EPs tend towards the quick and pacy side of things, not this one. We Will Find The Sun takes its time, an extended exercise in stone-washed experimentation. The band pack a lot into these tracks - one moment they're all uber-moody, languid Radiohead-esque atmospherics, the next the guitar is clinical and precise.
Observing The Ghost's real skill is that while their tracks feel primarily like a journey into just how far they can push their guitars - to explore the limits of their sound - they never forget the importance of a solid foundation for their songs. These aren't aimless meanderings, more like carefully navigated tracts through an exciting, unpredictable new landscape.
Placebo-esque Three Years is a particular highlight of the EP - so darkly bleak and menacing you feel like you could collapse away to nothingness in its sable midnight grip. When the guttural, piercing screams spit out mid-song, it's like a spear's been thrust right through every part of your body - here, at their best, Observing The Ghost aren't just making great music, but crafting an experience - something truly physical.
