This lot specialise in surging, shimmering synth-pop refracted through waves of My Bloody Valentine guitar haze
Hometown: Nottingham.
The lineup: John Sampson (vocals, instruments), Peter Sampson (drums), Jonathon Spittlehouse (guitar), Andrew Wright (keyboards), Blake Pearson (bass).
The background: Bands, especially new ones, are often compared to other bands, but some, to paraphrase George Orwell, are more comparable than others: Swimming's 2009 debut album, The Fireflow Trade, saw them compared to no fewer than 50 other acts. But it wasn't as though they were derivative; it was a measure of critics' inability to pinpoint exactly what they sounded like, and how that sound drifted from style to style, often within a single song. Here was ambient next to glam beside new romantic juxtaposed with drone rock: no wonder those comparisons ranged from Autechre to the Beach Boys, Brian Eno to Duran Duran.
Swimming began in a swimming pool, Victoria Baths, in Nottingham. The members went for a dip, came home, knocked about some ideas, then began recording demos for what became the Pacific Title EP, their debut release, all experimental, atmospheric electronica based on their love of early-90s Warp techno and groups such as Seefeel, with a nod to the avant-guitar tonalities of Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine. The subsequent Fireflow Trade album evinced a substantial shift away from meandering moodscapes towards what John Sampson calls a "more stripped-down and concentrated" song-based approach.
A self-contained unit with their own in-house producer (John S), engineer (Jonathon Spittlehouse), even a designer (bassist Pearson), their evolution is now complete. Their new single combines computer know-how and post-rock/hip-hop recording techniques with conventional band performances, guitars as well as samplers, over which Sampson's voice soars with his airy falsetto, newly in thrall to the starsailing soul of Shuggie Otis and Minnie Ripperton. Sun in the Island and Team Jetstream, their latest tracks, recall the artful "new pop" of Simple Minds refracted through the guitar haze of MBV et al, with a sense of rapture appropriate for a band whose forthcoming second album is provisionally titled Ecstatics International.
Not that this music is vapid waffle, far from it. Indeed, Sun in the Island was written after John's girlfriend got shot at last year when a bullet came flying through her taxi window in the rough area of Nottingham where they live ? it's about staying upbeat in dismal surroundings. Meanwhile, Team Jetstream concerns the death of his grandmother earlier this year, although you'd never know from this surging, shimmering synth-pop. Another new Swimming track, Mining for Diamonds, was written after some of his friends endured nervous breakdowns and attempted suicide, all within a short space of time, but again, all you glean from it is a sense of gushing positivity. Maybe we should all try Swimming.
The buzz: "As headspinningly inventive as they are euphorically engaging" ? Drowned in Sound.
The truth: As Midlands bands go, they're better than Friday's lot.
Most likely to: Engulf.
Least likely to: Drown.
What to buy: Sun in the Island/Team Jetstream is released by Tummy Touch in February.
File next to: Talk Talk, Duran Duran, Eno, Autechre.
Links: myspace.com/swimmingband.
Tuesday's new band: Nathaniel Rateliff.
Monet Mazur Rozonda Thomas Rachel Weisz Miranda Kerr Sarah Shahi
No comments:
Post a Comment