At Zanzibar on Thursday (28/07/11) I saw an amazing new band going by the name of Stealing Sheep on the advice (and thanks to the ability to drive me there) of a good friend. They didn’t disappoint. Supporting Hot Club de Paris (a band who don’t get nearly the level of recognition they deserve – for their witty Liverpudlian repartee if nothing else - and whom my friends and I misspent many a youthful evening following round the country) at the ‘It’s Miller Time Presents …’ the all-girl trio had a laid-back, D.I.Y feel and echoes of Best Coast in their sound. Officially genred as ‘Psych-Folk’ – not a bad label for all that it means – they do represent the rise and potential quality of modern, popular English folk music. Placing them, in my mind, alongside Florence + the Machine and Patrick Wolf (though with a less ‘folktronica’ sound than Wolf) whose fourth and fifth albums (The Bachelor and Lupercalia respectively – much more than a one-hit-wonder many suppose him to be) deserve more recognition than he usually garners and whose recent appearance on 4Play (available on 4OD) I would recommend all to take a look at. The almost drums-led sound of the band and delicate, harmonious vocals make for an eerie, often haunting presence. The lyrics are often delicate and highly feminised giving them a unique beauty. I keep listening to ‘I am the Rain’ on repeat for the singular line:
“make it through the rain/I am the rain. If I dry will I be/what will I be?”
The frail insecurity of the lyric speaking to a depth of youthful indecision at a crossroads.
More of this please Liverpool, and Britain generally, I don’t think this specific sound (despite some Californian flavours) could come from anywhere else. Recommendations of similar acts I might well enjoy are more than welcome on the comments (in fact they are thoroughly encouraged).
