Nothing's Lost - Prints In The Snow

Debut album out now from Yorkshire four piece, Prints in the Snow

Formed in 2010 by the pair, Laurie Armitt and Catherine Preston, they were joined by music journalist David Simpson on drums and by former Hermit Crabs guitarist Mark Waudby. This album was released in 2019 on the band's bandcamp page and still available.

From the opening track 'Waiting for the Feeling' there is an energy that permeates from this band, a tightness of their collective spirit coming through the ether. The drive of that album opener is in stark contrast to the next two tracks, 'To Be Home Again' and 'Sleep' where the sombre reflectiveness washes over the listener, which continues in the little gem 'For Grace'

There is a power to this four piece that radiates throughout the nine track album, with pieces reminiscing of lost opportunites, past glories and fading chances, which comes from the ages of the group in their more mature years.

There is a yearning in these songs, reminiscent of Mike Scott and the Waterboys, music which is very much British and makes you think this is a lost soundtrack to some fabled lost Lindsey Anderson kitchen sink drama from the early 1960s or that renaissance of British film in the late 1980s.

Yet you still get the rock of 'Desdemona' a song of requited love, this is an album as much about love and the love of music and not an angry political album. That is followed by 'Be Still My Heart' a lovely track that recalls the gushing work of Richard Hawley or Billy Bragg - a song with a tag line that pulls on your ear to nuzzle into your memory slipstream.

An album by music lovers for music lovers in all its faded glory, during this period of self-isolation it is an album that befits this prolonged period of reflection and contemplation; a small minor masterpiece ripe for a larger audience.

Follow Prints In The Snow on Twitter @printsinthesnow.

Read my interview with David Simpson here for his book 'The Last Champions'

Irma Vep 'Embarrassed Landscape'

The new album from Irma Vep Embarrassed Landscape is out now from Gringo Records

Irma Vep is the alias of Edwin Stevens, a Glasgow based polymath musician, a man who has reached the potential now in his fourth album release.

Vep has garnered quite a reputation in recent years as a singular songwriter with immense confidence using a multitude of influences from across the musical spectrum to still sound like a unique voice.

From the outset, album opener 'King Kong' is as big a song you are likely hear as it is both bold, fresh and exciting.  It sets Stevens out as the sort of performer who has that intangible that you cannot measure - ambition. It is both brave and ballsy to open with a ten-minute track on any album, but it is neither grandiose nor showing off, it is a statement of intent to grab the listener from the beginning.

It continues in the next tracks which are more insular and reflective using violins and piano for atmosphere on 'Disaster' and 'Standards'.

More rockier numbers return with 'The Feeling is Gone' and 'Purring' which gives a balance to the open as a whole.

This album seems like the work Stevens has intended to make for several years, his growth as a person and artist has come to full fruition in the work of Embarrassed Landscape which is both a pleasure and privilege to witness.

Embarrassed Landscape is out now from Gringo Records.

My thanks to One Beat PR for the review opportunity.

Es - Less of Everything

First full length album from quartet Es from Upset The Rhythm in April 2020

Es are less a band and more a manifesto - lets be loud, lets be proud - a virtual coolness of pop friction, prickly in their composition but deliberate in their conviction.

The band are a four-piece, Maria Cecilia Tedemalm (vocals), Katy Cotterell (bass), Tamsin M. Leach (drums) and Flora Watters (keyboards) made noise in 2016 with their debut EP 'Object Relations' released on La Vida Es Un Mus label, they have become a prominent member of the underground DIY music scene since 2017

In the form of Tedemalm, the band have a vital front person who can be the focal point for the group. The band are as much about attitude and this is backed up by the dynamic of being relentless in this album - this is an emotional journey that carries you through the scale of nuance to complex; and while other DIY groups may sound cold there is a welcoming nature to this band. Es are ones to watch.

Less of Everything is out from Upset The Rhythm on April 3rd.

My thanks to One Beat PR for the review opportunity.

Piroshka 'Brickbat'

Debut album from Piroshka, a distinct musical quartet, released from Bella Union on 15th February

Piroshka are a collaboration of four artists from wide ranging backgrounds across the late 20th century; the four band members are Miki Berenyi (Lush vocalist/guitarist), KJ 'Moose' McKillop (Moose guitarist), Mick Conroy (Modern English bassist) and Justin Welch (Elastica drummer).

This variety of backgrounds from the individual members has created an album which is both thrilling, enticing and intellectual.  Thrust forward by Berenyi's own distinctive voice, the band have curated an album of pleasing hooks which will make listeners reminisce of female led groups with this reviewer being fondly recalled of The Long Blondes and Kate Jackson's delivery.

While the lead track 'This Must Be Bedlam' starts off with a ferocious feedback this is not a punk record; instead there is a delicate way about the songs none more so than on 'Everlastingly Yours' a love song which reaches heights thanks to the vocal delivery.

The track titles may well speak towards friction and there is a political context running throughout - 'This Must Be Bedlam' is about Brexit; 'Village of the Damned' is about school shootings and 'Never Enough' rails against greed and inequality. This is an album speaking of mature and societal themes due to the adults within the group - this is a band by adults for adults.

Full of powerful rock basslines and with a rare combination of harmony and punk; this is an album that should garner praise from musos and for those seeking something off the beaten track.

Brickbat is out from Bella Union on 15th February.
My thanks to OneBeatPR for the audio/review link.

Black Country, New Road - New single

This debut single by new London six-piece Black Country, New Road entitled 'Athen's, France' is one of the weirdest, yet most delightful songs I have heard in a long time.

From the critically acclaimed Speedy Wunderground record label based out of the Brixton and surrounding areas - this single is another string to their ecletic bow.

This is a sprawling epic of young life in London, talking about sex and the fear of it -
an ever expanding world as horizons broaden. This track starts off one way and yet goes down other unexpected avenues reminiscent of a labyrinth with no clear direction or reckoning of where it will go.

The single is out on limited 7" vinyl (250 copies) and digital from 8th March via Speedy Wunderground.  The expression is symptomatic of the turnaround of the song production which was produced in a session on a Sunday in January 2019, having only been written the day before then mastered/mixed on the Wednesday after.  The urgency is captured in this snapshot of young life.

Black Country, New Road have some live dates including 26th January at Moth Club, Hackney a huge all-dayer event at Label Mates Festival. Tickets are available here 

My thanks to One Beat PR for the link.