» Music reviews: James Yorkston, The Splendour, Friendly Fires & more…
Maturing with every release James Yorkston still flirts with the fringes of psychedelia within his genial folkiness. It’s sensitively textured music, full of lush arrangements, but with a sadness throughout. Lyrically When The Haar Rolls In features plenty of well-turned out phrases, while stylistically Yorkston gently mimics folk’s affectations. A tad over long, and generally of one tempo, Yorkston could have done with a bit off jollying up.
Formerly known as Kingsomniac, Brighton’s The Splendour have just released their debut album Best Way To Make Money on their own label and via the guidance of music industry mentors the Independent Label Scheme. Full of spiky pop tunes with punk and ska overtones, the album reeks lyrically of failed and ‘difficult’ relationships.
Alan MX
Introspective, intimate, sensual electro-folk steeped in melancholy and luscious romance, that’s what classically-trained cellist Michael Milosh does, and does beautifully. iii is a dreamscape full of soul, cerebral electronica and delicate beats.
St Albans based Friendly Fires are a late contender for band of the year thanks to their ridiculously infectious, joyful and quite brilliant self-titled debut album. Dance-floor friendly, 80s new wave influences (particularly DuranDuran), a little bit of Hot Chip, a smidgen of My Bloody Valentine and LCD, and an overriding epic feel will surely mark this lot out as ones to watch.
Fresh from playing Brighton a few weeks ago, Hampshire electro singer-songwriterAlan MX releases debut album Warpsichord. An intriguing mixture of Patrick Wolf cybercrooning and The Postal Service glitchy feedback, Warpsichord is instantly striking.
Rachael Sage
A vibrant digital pulse throbs throughout as Alan’s heartfelt vocals and endearingly quirky lyrics make this more than a simple dance track. As with Mr Wolf, simple, strong songwriting is key to the record’s success, and there’s noshortage of it on this energetic, impressive release which turns out to be much more than the sum of its parts.
New York singer-songwriter Rachael Sage and her band The Sequins owe a huge debt to the more wispy efforts of fellow US vocalist Tori Amos, going on the strength of her second album, Chandelier. Very similar in voice and general sound to Amos’ record The Beekeeper, Chandelier just about marks itself out as a different prospect with a few strong numbers. Unfortunately, though, this all too often remains a derivative, if undeniably skillful, effort.
