Hype always abounds, particularly in relation to a new, largely unheard of artist. But just once in a while you hear something that just makes you sit up and take notice.
The Birmingham music scene has gone from strength to strength over the last 12 months, and is now considered at the very forefront of introducing credible new indie sounds from within its boundaries.
One such is Prayers.
The four-piece - Alex Aitken, vocals/guitar; George Maybury, guitar; Lewis Belcher, bass; Nathan Bunn, drums - set of 18 year olds came together while Alex and Nathan were in a band together from schooldays; they were joined by George and Lewis (who went to a different school, but were similarly together in a local group) and "after a particularly horrendous double date involving Alex and George, the question "shall we form a new band?" floated around and it just took off from there".
After writing a few songs together the four lads decided they had something going - and Prayers were duly formed.
They describe their sound as "quite dark, but dreamy at the same time", which, for those who may have heard 'Bloodstains', would appear to fit the description. "We use a hell of a lot of reverb giving us that sort of 'post-rock' feel, although I think it is quite difficult to place a genre to us - and I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing!"
We think good. Take a listen to the two tracks they have online. The aforementioned 'Bloodstains' is a belter of a tune with a big thumping drum opening that leads into twisted,d ark lyrics, catchy hooks that play around in your head, and Aitken's vocal inflections on words ('vile') and lines ('the way you shake your hips') guarantee you'll be humming the chorus by the third hearing. The other, 'Fear To Fly', is an acoustic version of a song that, while not having been part of their live set for some time, shows that they are no one-trick ponies, in this simplistic guitar form that is augmneted by strings and again, Aitken's seering vocals.
As yet Prayers are unsigned, but are currently in the studio putting together a four-track EP for a planned June release.
Keep this band on your radar. Live date wise it appears they have a London show upcoming (as yet to be confirmed) and a home turf launch for the EP in Digbeth in June. But if they are as good live as they sound, you can be sure they'll be adding quite a few dates to their gig roster in the near future.
No comments:
Post a Comment