Tercelvoice – Tercelvoice
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| Tercelvoice |
Release Date: 1st December 2017
There is something instantly
saddening about this album from Yorkshire dwelling soloist Tercelvoice and it’s
got nothing to do with the music. It’s the fact that, in plain black letters on
the back of the CD, it very clearly says ‘Made in the E.U.’. I’m sad that
Brexit is happening and no so much for all the political and economic reasons
but more because the free flow of people, ideas, creativity and thoughts seemed
like the pinnacle of human endeavour. Fittingly, this album is very definitely
on the sad side of things and, for a debut no less, ‘Tercelvoice’ is a
particularly accomplished piece of acoustic misery. Opening with ‘Bad to the
Bone’ our hero (Andy Squires to the taxman) wafts in on a lazy acoustic riff
with a waspish vocal that haunts from the shadowy corners of an old house on a
cold, misty late morning in the Autumn. ‘The Love He Kept’ has a real Elliot
Smith vibe about it due to the husky vocals and gentle groove of the guitar and
organ pumping along to the smooth beat while ‘Shattered Friends’ continues that
vibe with a lilting, almost Parisian piano line that speaks of heartache and
loss.
If you’re looking for party tunes
or a pick me up then this is not the place to be – this is an album by a
Yorkshireman in as bleak a social landscape as we’ve ever known, after all –
but if you want to stare out of the window and just ‘be’ then this might be the
record for you. ‘Angel’, for example, is sparse, bare and almost haunting in
the distance it creates between the vocals and the music but we all have those
days, don’t we? There is a little more get up and go on ‘Used Up’, ironically,
as husky vocals and guitar are given impetuous by the splash and slap of the
drums which eventually builds and erupts in to something akin to Catherine
Wheel or Radiohead circa ‘The Bends’. There is a folk edge to the wallowing on
‘Men Lie’ while ‘Hard to Learn’ has a vaguely medieval feel to the melody which
gives it a timeless, ageless quality.
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| Tercelvoice |
As we approach the end of this
collection, ‘Good Me We’re Saved’ ambles in like a lost Badly Drawn Boy and Guy
Garvey duet from some cold, dusty room in Manchester early in their careers.
The closing track, ‘Girl’, has a hint of hope about it but overall this album
wears a heavy, wet woollen coat of sadness and futility. Now, like I said, that
seems fitting at times and might be just what you want right now but if you’re
a member of the illuminati and everything is hunky dory for you right now then
I’d still get a copy of this and keep for that day in the future when the
faecal matter hits the air conditioning. Gloriously and unapologetically grumpy
which suits me just fine, thank you very much.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/tercelvoice/
Live Dates:
1st December – Album
Launch @ FortyFive Vinyl Café, York
2nd December – Album Launch
2 @ Wino, Leeds
20th January – The Islington,
London