Friday 6 December 2013

Toliesel - Contours

Contours cover art

Not to shout, but IT'S FRIDAY. Yes, yes it is. That statement was brought to you by the Ministry of Stating the Obvious, now back to your regular, scheduled programming.

If, like me, you're that tired you could snort Nytol off the convent railings with gay abandon then you'll be needing summat quite nice to see the evening in with. As per I've got just the thing and again, it involves another great act from Oxford/London based PinDrop Publicity...

Here they are, they're called Toliesel, they are from Oxford, and this is their latest EP, called "Contours". First of all, here are the necessaries you need. The link to their bandcamp page:

http://toliesel.bandcamp.com/

What can I tell you about this EP? It's polished, it's slick, it sounds pretty damn fabulous and it really is the perfect antidote to a week of mither and maul.

Immediately, I was struck by the purity of the vocals on the songs, they're beautifully clear - folky sounding without tipping into arran sweater and cords territory (not that there's anything wrong with that), but they're alt-country tinged, and have a really nice Americana feel to them, that's not forced. In fact, the band do describe themselves as being of that ilk.

There are great, tight sounding harmonies on these tracks and combined with the sharp guitars and wispy percussion it makes for a very engaging and different listen. Standout tracks for thegeneral are the opener "Whispered Half Asleep" and the deceptive "Brothers" which is a song of great contrasts, gently tender, with a rock hard centre that then softens again and chimes out at the end.

It's un-indie, it's different, it's poignant, focussed and is probably a bit different to many of the other things I've covered on here before. And that's a very good thing indeed. Toliesel are a band to watch over the coming months if this EP is anything to go by. My clarion call is as always, give them a listen, give them your support...and enjoy...


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