10 for 2013: #6 – Fenech-Soler
#6 on the reader-voted 10 for 2013 list here at TGTF are a band who are no stranger to our year end polls: this Kings Cliffe band landed at #8 in the 10 for 2011 poll, and judging from your enthusiasm, are set to storm the world with their new album scheduled out soon. Martin philosophises about the band in this feature…
Fenech-Soler are a surprise inclusion on the list for 2013, existing as they have since 2006. But their inspirational ability to combine indie-band verses with hard-hitting, Ibiza-worthy uplifting choruses means they are currently one of the UK’s finest dance crossover bands. One only has to experience their trademark wall-of-synth breakdowns to understand their power – 2009’s ‘Stop And Stare’ is a triumph of comedown comfort which melds uplifting vocal lines with a veritable cornucopia of synthesised pillowy goodness.
Since then they have subtly hardened their sound – 2009’s ‘The Cult of Romance’ restrains itself from the Ibiza excesses of its predecessor; its b-side ‘Airbrushed’ asserts itself via a teasing, trebly bassline before revealing its dark underbelly of confusion and, finally, redemption… Ben Duffy sounding all the while like a moonlighting Brian Molko.
2012’s ‘All I Know’ (single review here) condenses 7 years’ experience into one 3-minute blast of knowing, desperate longing, via a pounding wall of synthesis. The status quo undulates with rhythmic precision (the band if anything yet more inclined to drop from gentle groove into full-on “turn it up to 12” sound system kicking) until there’s a release into full-frequency mayhem, Duffy’s keening vocal maintaining the emotion required for such a touching narrative.
In summary, Fenech-Soler can open the way to a new horizon: that which starts with a drifting, imagined, vocal hook, and ends with pounding four-to-the-floor boogieing, seamlessly integrated with a human story. It’s all to dance for.
One Response
9th December 2012
RT @tgtf: New post: 10 for 2013: #6 – Fenech-Soler: http://t.co/45YvkY7s