Sound Of The Sirens - A Long Way To Fall
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| Sound Of The Sirens - A Long Way To Fall |
When I was about 12, my big
sister went off to University and left me with a tape that featured two albums
by US female duo, Indigo Girls. I was in to Britpop at the time so didn't
listen to it for a while but, when I did, the powerful vocal harmonies and impassioned
lyrics brought tears to my eyes and opened my mind to a whole range of
alternative music styles. For over twenty years I've been waiting to hear
another band come up with comparable harmonies and lyrical style so I'm
relieved to finally say I have found the next great pretenders to this throne;
Sound Of The Sirens. The Exeter duo released this album at Christmas time,
oddly, but I am only now just getting my ears on it in order to share with you
lucky people.
The album bursts in to life with
the determinedly energetic stomp 'The Night Before' which is a great
introduction to the harmonies of Hannah and Abbe. 'In This Time' is a sweet,
folk romp of a tune with boot stamps, furiously strummed guitars and mandolin
and the hand claps that you would expect around a camp fire at a festival. This
is earthy, elemental music based on honest emotion and presented in the only
way they know how - luckily for us, that is through sublime harmonies,
delicious melodies and infectious rhythms. The lament that is 'Afraid Of The
Dark' forms the perfect musical accompaniment to a broken heart, for sure, but
more specifically that moment just before you realise that life will go on and
you will find love again. 'Anything Less' is a minimalist, Simon &
Garfunkel-esque piece of loveliness whilst 'Up To The House' is a break up song
of defiance, intricacy and undulations as well as more original ideas than most
singer-songwriters can muster in an entire album.
There is a definite KT Tunstall
feel to 'Who We Are' which is suspect is a bit of a crowd pleaser - it's
certainly the duo's most commercial feeling song. The haunting openings of 'The
Ghost' are simply beautiful as the delicate voices of our heroines slowly build
in power and by the end of the song we are definitely in Indigo Girls
territory...in a very good way. Probably my favourite track on this album, 'A
Thousand Words' has a great blues-country stomp with a rousingly uplifting
chorus and a parting shot lyric of "So I placed you in a corner and I
hoped you would behave!". The final track of this collection is 'Faith In
Fire' which starts as a melancholy ballad but within three minutes or so it
turns in to a furious paced, foot stomping, arms in the air tune that will have
many a festival crowd whooping and hollering along this summer. What I love
most about Sound Of The Sirens is that here we have two musicians who have
found their harmonious soul mate and it doesn't matter what they do, they will
always make great sounding music together. The real icing on the cake is that
they can write great songs too.
More information: http://www.soundofthesirens.net/index.html
Live Dates:
15th February - Mama Stones, Exeter
19th February - Barnfield Theatre, Exeter
22nd February - James Street Vaults, Plymouth
1st March - Princess Pavilions, Falmouth
9th March - Cavern, Exeter
22nd March - The Zanzibar Club, Liverpool
28th March - The Boat House, Ilfracombe
29th March - Looe Angling Club, Looe
12th April - Mama Stones, Exeter
3rd May - Talk, Birmingham
6th June - Occombe Beer Festival, Paignton
8th August - Phoenix Arts Centre, Exeter w/Kast Off Kinks