WITCH HUNT
Esben & The Witch have wowed people in unexpected quarters as their shadowy world of stratospheric sonic. BRAD BARRETT gets set for the witching hour...
P
eeled from the pages of some foreboding adult folklore, Esben & the Witch are the sonic equivalent of a Grimm Fairytale. This Brighton
trio, unassuming, brooding and intelligent, are capable of sweeping you up until a flaming maelstrom of confusion, despair or euphoria then dropping you back to the ground unsure of what exactly you just got so wrapped up in. “Usually the way we draw music is we first think of an atmosphere we’re trying to evoke... It tends to be we’re aiming to create a general sense of a mood and that goes the way we construct the songs. We’re fully aware they don’t follow any particular patterns or structures and that’s because for us it’s more important to take the listener on a journey,” explains Thomas Fisher, who plays electric guitar. This drummer-less band, the band use programmed
percussion to dictate the rhythms while they build upon these foundations with snaking, sometimes alarmingly furious, tentacles of sound. From relatively soothing, if ominous, clanging chords to torrents of distortion and waves of melodies lost amidst the static.
“We’re aware of the BBC poll but we try to distance ourselves from that sort of thing…”
“I don’t know about describing ourselves as musicians. That seems odd to us.” admits Thomas. “We’ve never really done anything of note before this project. It’s the first time that me and Rachel have ever stepped on a stage. When I first met Daniel (Copeman – guitarist), that was when I first began to learn the electric guitar because before then I’d only sort of messed around on an acoustic. We all share a ramshackle approach where we don’t necessarily know that much about the technical side of things. In a way, that naivety may work in our favour because you’re not restricted by any past rules or anything and you can just sort of go with what you feel works best.” This isn’t to say that there aren’t moments of crystalline beauty, always pursued by Rachel Davies’ exceptional wail, which are underpinned by the sense of unease and anxious expectation. It’s usually about the time Rachel’s voice descends into an unseen ravine and the echoes feedback into a tumultuous blur of guitar lines and percussion. Debut album Violet Cries carries on
where limited single Lucia, At The Precipice and last year’s Marching Song EP left off. The new 10 song album feeds our hunger for an enveloping experience, in much the same way that the band’s live shows do. “Very little has changed in the way that we’ve gone
about writing the songs. The inspiration behind the EP and the album are kind of similar things which are stories of intrigue and interest that we happen across. Our recording techniques haven’t changed at all,” agrees Thomas. “Daniel produced the EP and the album as well. One difference was we were able to record Rachel’s vocals and the live drums in the studio which was great because it gave Rachel a chance to really experiment with her voice.” It’s this endlessly creative approach to writing which adds to their mystique and allure, something which has been unexpectedly picked up on by a few mainstream outlets, including the usually more conservative BBC and their Sound of 2011 poll. “We’re aware of the BBC poll and things like that and we do our best to distance ourselves from that sort of thing just because it’s not really something that’s helpful to us to write the songs and go about doing what we’re trying to do,” explains Thomas over an increasingly bad telephone line. “Outside influence really shouldn’t have that much affect on that but we’re aware of a certain sense of expectation building around those polls and it isn’t something we’re entirely comfortable with because we never considered ourselves on that sort of list or in that sort of company so when we see things like that it’s certainly really strange.” It’s something they may have to get used to though as nominations for ‘Next Big Thing’ Awards and rave reviews pour in from both recordings and live shows. Even though this band are musically oblique and shy away from attention, mainstream success might give the UK pop charts something to get genuinely excited about. Whatever the future holds, Esben & The Witch will appeal to those who never thought life would be all gingerbread houses and sun-drizzled woodland journeys to Grandma’s house. PM
50 3pickup
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