UNCONDITIONAL ARMS - EP REVIEW

Unconditional Arms - Virtue Circle (GIANT MKT) 
Unconditional Arms - Virtue Circle

Release Date: 29th April 2014

I reviewed the album by Unconditional Arms a while back and was acutely aware that the album had been written by a new father to his young son. A few months on and along comes a new 7" single, tempered by fatherhood, under the title 'Virtue Circle' and suddenly I'm worried. You see, in around 6 months time I too am going to become a father for the first time and if the sounds that are featured on this record are representative of the mental state of new dads then I'm screwed. I'm reading the books and I've watched Knocked Up a load of times but the ambient sprawl of opening track 'Bear Fruit' shifts from gentle electro landscapes to jerky, guitar lead trip-hop-indie with such alarming ease that I'm seriously concerned for my sanity. Is this was sleep deprivation does to a musician? The B-side, 'Son, Daughter, Daughter', is a much more gentle affair, thankfully. Dusky guitars mingle with spoken-word lyrics that are just out of reach and I can feel the calm returning until...on about two minutes so big drums and razor edged guitar playing cuts through the peace as a bass line grinds ominously in the background. If this is what having children does for your creativity then I'm surprised more musicians haven't eschewed the drugs and settled down in a Bungalow with three kids. Having said that, I'll reserve judgement until I get to see what impact it have on my writing!

More information: https://www.facebook.com/unconditionalarms?fref=ts

Live Dates:


31st May - Sub-mission Art Gallery, San Francisco w/ Wander + Commissure 

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