Into the Diamond Sun is the first full-length release from all-girl
Liverpudlian three-piece Stealing Sheep. This debut effort features
lashing of lo-fi psyche folk, with an intriguing tinge of drone-ridden,
olde worlde counterpoint, rhythm and harmonies. The album follows on
from their debut EP I am the Rain, released in 2011, along with a
growing degree of well-deserved media attention.
This album, like all of Stealing Sheep’s work, is very vocal heavy.
Beautifully inter-laced harmonies, fixed in ancient musical modes drift
through each track in a way that is hypnotic, ethereal, and at times
even haunting. Each individual voice has its own personality and
opportunity to shine through, but the collectivism of the trio’s voices,
creating complex, otherworldly harmonies, is where the real strength of
Stealing Sheep’s music lies. Polyphonic madrigals cross the ears,
making Into the Diamond Sun feel ancient, strange, eerie and
captivating. Think Au Revoir Simone meets the Medieval Babes and you are
perhaps getting some way towards Stealing Sheep’s mysterious vocal
style.
Nowhere in the album is this vocal style more evident than in the recent single Shut Eye,
which was so famously used in a recent advert for Hollyoaks. The tracks
placement in the advert will certainly help the girls on their way to
fame and fortune, but it must be said that the advert itself astutely
enhanced the qualities of Stealing Sheep’s music. Certainly, this is
music well suited to wooded glades, billowing white dresses and fairy
lights.
Into the Diamond Sun is not simply about beautiful voices, however.
The entire soundscape these ladies create – the collective layers of
sound offered throughout this album are both evocative and intriguing.
Stealing Sheep have clear musical intentions, using interesting, apt and
quirky timbres to create a wistful and intelligent backdrop to the
girl’s vocals. Organic and electronic sounds mix to make this album
fresh and vibrant; tabers, bodhrans and frame drums create thick rhythms
alongside effervescent synths. These girls are clearly very clever,
musically intuitive, and instrumentally competent.
Into the Diamond Light offers both accessible and eccentric
psyche-folk, which is charismatic, hazy and evocative – the perfect
soundtrack to late summer.
See this at MTTM at: http://www.morethanthemusic.co.uk/reviews/album-reviews/stealing-sheep-into-the-diamond-sun/
Sunday, 12 August 2012
Tuesday, 7 August 2012
MORE THAN THE MUSIC POST: The Hundred In The Hands - Red Night
When The Hundred in the Hands emerged in 2010 with the release of
their debut EP (This Desert) and eponymous first album, the group were
at the front of the emerging dream-pop scene in Brooklyn, NY. They
created clever, exciting, innovative music that was rousingly fresh and
different. The group’s style of soft synth-pop was delicate, diverse,
and subtly exotic in its quiet brilliance.
Now, in 2012, it is safe to say that Brooklyn’s fires of innovation are slowly dying down – and it is perhaps not quite the stupendous and unique creative hub that it once was. This second full-length effort from The Hundred in the Hands reflects this geographical/temporal artistic shift, and as such it is not as innovative a body of work as their debut EP and album. There is less dynamism and innovation at play here, which with the passing of time is perhaps to be expected.
With Red Night, The Hundred in the Hands have certainly offered a competent and enjoyable album however, which is full of the same atmosphere and whimsy that the group fostered in their earlier releases. There is also a darker, cinematic vibe to the music, which is an interesting development from the group’s work. More diverse, grandiose timbres are offered such as deep brass and horn hits mixed with crashing cymbals, and fat synths that would sound at home in any 1980s’ film from TRON to Ladyhawke.
There is also a wistful distance to this album, even more so than what was present in earlier releases. Many tracks feature incredibly low-key mixes with barely audible atmospheric drones, distant guitars are fed through lashings of echo and chorus, and as in earlier work, vocals are dripping in heavy, almost ethereal reverb. The overall effect of these methods makes Red Night quietly melancholic. Many of the tracks, such as the title track and Empty Stations are very toned down, and almost appear to be unfolding in slow-motion.
Red Night is not a one trick pony, however. There is more rhythmic diversity here than in The Hundred in the Hands’ previous work, with complex poly-rhythms at play in some tracks. The level of saturation and overdubs is varied too, with timbres coming like sporadic waves. The combination of live and synth sounds is also more apparent, with crunchy, distorted guitars occurring alongside live percussion and drums.
There is some genuine beauty with each track on Red Night, and once again, The Hundred in the Hands have proved themselves to be the masters of layering timbres and fusing sounds to make an intrinsic, yet complete whole. This is still clever and enjoyable music, even if it is beginning to sound a tad familiar.
See this at MTTM at: http://www.morethanthemusic.co.uk/reviews/album-reviews/the-hundred-in-the-hands-red-night/
Now, in 2012, it is safe to say that Brooklyn’s fires of innovation are slowly dying down – and it is perhaps not quite the stupendous and unique creative hub that it once was. This second full-length effort from The Hundred in the Hands reflects this geographical/temporal artistic shift, and as such it is not as innovative a body of work as their debut EP and album. There is less dynamism and innovation at play here, which with the passing of time is perhaps to be expected.
With Red Night, The Hundred in the Hands have certainly offered a competent and enjoyable album however, which is full of the same atmosphere and whimsy that the group fostered in their earlier releases. There is also a darker, cinematic vibe to the music, which is an interesting development from the group’s work. More diverse, grandiose timbres are offered such as deep brass and horn hits mixed with crashing cymbals, and fat synths that would sound at home in any 1980s’ film from TRON to Ladyhawke.
There is also a wistful distance to this album, even more so than what was present in earlier releases. Many tracks feature incredibly low-key mixes with barely audible atmospheric drones, distant guitars are fed through lashings of echo and chorus, and as in earlier work, vocals are dripping in heavy, almost ethereal reverb. The overall effect of these methods makes Red Night quietly melancholic. Many of the tracks, such as the title track and Empty Stations are very toned down, and almost appear to be unfolding in slow-motion.
Red Night is not a one trick pony, however. There is more rhythmic diversity here than in The Hundred in the Hands’ previous work, with complex poly-rhythms at play in some tracks. The level of saturation and overdubs is varied too, with timbres coming like sporadic waves. The combination of live and synth sounds is also more apparent, with crunchy, distorted guitars occurring alongside live percussion and drums.
There is some genuine beauty with each track on Red Night, and once again, The Hundred in the Hands have proved themselves to be the masters of layering timbres and fusing sounds to make an intrinsic, yet complete whole. This is still clever and enjoyable music, even if it is beginning to sound a tad familiar.
See this at MTTM at: http://www.morethanthemusic.co.uk/reviews/album-reviews/the-hundred-in-the-hands-red-night/
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