By Cheryl Demas on Friday, 15th February 2013 at 12:00 pm
Around since early 2007, when they were still being called 21 Demands, the band now known as Kodaline became the first group to have an independently released track hit #1 on the Irish singles chart. And now the Dublin-based band, most recently honoured with a BBC Sound of 2013 longlist nomination, has something new for us. The ‘High Hopes’ EP has two original songs, a cover and a remix.
With influences from indie and a touch of the modern folk rock movement, both ‘High Hopes’ and ‘The Answer’ are gorgeous simple tunes. Singer Steven Garrigan’s clear, earnest delivery gives us the perfect foil for the quandary of an enamoured suitor. Even the cover of LCD Soundsystem’s ‘All My Friends’ (video here) fits this mould. Only the remix of ‘All I Want’, originally from their first EP, seems out of place, all audio pixelated and jangly. However, you may be able to pick out recognisable parts to it because this tune was reworked as an instrumental for the music in Google’s quite amazing ‘Zeitgeist 2012’ advert (see below).
I think it was brave to attempt a cover of LCD Soundsystem’s ‘All My Friends’, and it is the track I am most taken with on the EP. Rather than a bouncy description of life traveling where one’s music will take you, this treatment is quite stripped back. It’s more a mournful exhortation of the plight of the musician on the road, moving on day after day to yet another gig. In this version, you can really hear that it’s not always the party life on the road can seem to be; but maybe if you have your friends there with you, it’ll be all right.
The video below for ‘High Hopes’ develops the kind of story that only a masterful storyteller can achieve in just four minutes. Up, down, downer still, and then, thankfully, up again the redemptive quality of hope is perfectly mirrored between the lyrics and images.
8/10
Kodaline’s debut album ‘In a Perfect World’ is due out on the 1st of April on Sony, but before then, catch them as they traipse through Britain from mid-March through to early April. The band will head on over to Austin for SXSW. (We previewed them in the singer/songwriter and folk UK bands chapter of the TGTF Guide to SXSW 2013.)
Saturday 23rd March 2013 – Bristol Thekla
Sunday 24th March 2013 – Norwich Arts Centre
Monday 25th March 2013 – Sheffield Leadmill
Tuesday 26th March 2013 – Manchester Academy 3
Thursday 28th March 2013 – Nottingham Rescue Rooms
Friday 29th March 2013 – Newcastle Cluny
Saturday 30th March 2013 – Leeds Brudenell Social Club
Sunday 31st March 2013 – Glasgow King Tuts
Tuesday 2nd April 2013 – Birmingham Institute Library
Wednesday 3th April 2013 – Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms
Thursday 4th April 2013 – London Scala
By Mary Chang on Monday, 11th February 2013 at 6:00 pm
Elbow‘s buddies I Am Kloot have released a new video for ‘Some Better Day’, their next single out on the 18th of March on their Shepherd Moon label. The visual stars the band as well as John Simm, whose role in this is probably most in line with his Doctor Who appearances, as you will see below.
In January, I Am Kloot released their latest album, ‘Let Them All In’, which Cheryl reviewed here. The band begin a UK tour tomorrow night in Glasgow; all the tour dates are below.
Tuesday 12th February 2013 – Glasgow Oran Mor
Wednesday 13th February 2013 – Leeds Irish Centre
Thursday 14th February 2013 – Manchester Ritz (sold out)
Friday 15th February 2013 – Manchester Ritz
Monday 18th February 2013 – Nottingham Albert Hall
Tuesday 19th February 2013 – London Barbican
Thursday 21st February 2013 – Brighton St. Bartholomew’s Church
Friday 22nd February 2013 – Cambridge Junction
Saturday 23rd February 2013 – Bristol Trinity
Sunday 24th February 2013 – Coventry Warwick Arts Centre
By Mary Chang on Monday, 11th February 2013 at 9:00 am
Noah and the Whale will be playing a series of four gig dates as part of what they’re calling their ‘Month of Sundays’ residency at London’s Palace Theatre. This series will take place the 28th of April, the 5th of May, the 12th of May and the 19th of May. Tickets are on sale now and are available at two pricing levels, £31.50 and £38.75 (both of these already include booking fees).
The band’s fourth album ‘Heart of Nowhere’ will be out on Mercury on the 6th of May. This month the band is filming a short film, with principal songwriter Charlie Fink as director, to go along with the album’s release.
Sunday 28th April 2013 – London Palace Theatre
Sunday 5th May 2013 – London Palace Theatre
Sunday 12th May 2013 – London Palace Theatre
Sunday 19th May 2013 – London Palace Theatre
By Mary Chang on Sunday, 10th February 2013 at 10:00 am
‘Violence Out Tonight’ is the new video from Little Comets; the song appears on their new album ‘Life is Elsewhere’ released in autumn 2012. Grimmer and heavier than usual Little Comets fare, it’s a good example of the band’s ability to flex their emotional muscles. Watch the video below.
Edit 21/03/13: it was revealed this week that Sheffield’s Crookes will be joining Little Comets on the first half of this tour (the 9th of April to the 19th of April); see starred dates below.
Tuesday 9th April 2013 – Nottingham Rescue Rooms*
Wednesday 10th April 2013 – London Shepherds Bush Empire*
Thursday 11th April 2013 – Cambridge Junction*
Saturday 13th April 2013 – Wolverhampton Slade Rooms*
Sunday 14th April 2013 – Oxford Academy*
Monday 15th April 2013 – Bournemouth Old Fire Station*
Tuesday 16th April 2013 – Exeter Phoenix*
Thursday 18th April 2013 – Bristol Academy*
Friday 19th April 2013 – Cardiff Gate Arts Centre*
Saturday 20th April 2013 – Dublin Academy 2
Sunday 21th April 2013 – Belfast Auntie Annie’s
Monday 22th April 2013 – Liverpool Masque
Wednesday 24th April 2013 – Glasgow King Tut’s
Thursday 25th April 2013 – York Fibbers
Friday 26th April 2013 – Preston 53 Degrees
* with the Crookes as support
By Mary Chang on Friday, 8th February 2013 at 10:00 am
Pigeon Detectives released the first single from their forthcoming album, out later this year, in late January. You can get the single ‘Animal’ free from the band’s official Web site. But first, get a taste of the song from the video below. You can catch the band on tour in the UK starting in late April; we’ve included their spring tour dates below.
Thursday 25th April 2013 – Preston 53 Degrees
Friday 26th April 2013 – Whitehaven Civic Hall
Saturday 27th April 2013 – Sheffield Leadmill
Sunday 28th April 2013 – Stoke Sugarmill
Tuesday 30th April 2013 – Norwich Waterfront
Wednesday 1st May 2013 – Birmingham Institute
Thursday 2nd May 2013 – Middlesbrough Empire
Friday 3rd May 2013 – Glasgow Arches
Saturday 4th May 2013 – Live at Leeds
Monday 6th May 2013 – Cambridge Junction
Tuesday 7th May 2013 – Nottingham Rescue Rooms
Wednesday 8th May 2013 – Bristol Thekla
Thursday 9th May 2013 – London Dingwalls
Friday 10th May 2013 – Brighton Coalition
Saturday 11th May 2013 – Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms
By Mary Chang on Thursday, 7th February 2013 at 4:00 pm
Baltimore’s Beach House recently filmed themselves in the middle of the night, performing four songs to put together this atmospheric, Pink Floyd-inspired film called Forever Still. The duo would be better at explaining this than I ever could, so take it away, guys:
Forever Still is directly inspired by Pink Floyd’s Live at Pompeii. We wanted to perform in a non-typical setting and felt the songs would resonate in a more majestic and spiritual landscape. The experience was an intense three nights of filming. Everyone involved in production and crew was benevolent in their time and talented in their efforts. We were very lucky to have the help and hard work of many people who aided and lent their abilities to our vision. The basic concept is four songs performed from sunset to sunrise. We tried to keep the edits minimal with long takes in order to focus on the energy of the songs, the landscape, and the physicality of live performance. The entire film was shot in or around Tornillo, Texas, where we recorded ‘Bloom’. Like ‘Bloom’, we hope that ‘Forever Still’ is experienced as a whole, long form.
Watch the video, all of its 26 minutes of epicness, below. The band are scheduled to perform two dates – the 25th and the 26th of March – at London’s Shepherds Bush Empire.
There Goes The Fear is where we tell you about the latest tours, gigs, and music we love and think you should too.
We love music that has its heart on its sleeve, tells a story, swims around our head all day or makes us dance like idiots.
The blog is edited by Mary Chang, who is based in Washington DC. She is joined by writers in the UK and America. It was started up by Phil Singer in Bristol, UK.
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