A solid debut album with a difference from the Reading band.
There are plenty of decent guitar bands in the Reading area, but having a different angle on things can definitely help to get you noticed. If you have come across Lost Velvet over the last year then you will already know they make music a step or two removed from the norm. They have a cinematic wide-screen style that is both searingly cool and effortlessly stylish.
Lost Velvet are Robert Butcher and Melissa Morris. They draw on a range of 90s alternative influences to produce their distinctive sound. Butcher has produced the album himself, though bought in Michael Patterson to mix the album who has worked with Nine Inch Nails, Black Rebel Motorycle Club and Saul Williams.
They describe Dark Cells as a record shaped by “nostalgia, old cinema, and the pull between suspense and restraint”, used to build a “haunting, dreamlike portal.” You could definitely imagine this sound-tracking a film, or the band making a film or TV score in the future.
The album starts with single ‘2003.’ It is a gentle introduction into the album’s sound with a neat nagging piano line.
You could not talk about this album without discussing the single and title track ‘Dark Cells.’ It has very much been their calling card since it was released and creates a whole world that their distinctive sound inhabits. It makes for an intriguing mix between beauty and the slightest feeling something isn’t quite right, the gentlest air of menace underpinning it. It is followed up by ‘Burnt’ which maintains the high level.
Of the unreleased tracks ‘Brother’ is very effective, its sudden bursts of heavier guitar contrasting with the more laid-back psychedelic tones. Most recent single ‘Right Back’ has some of the best paired harmonies between Butcher and Morris on the album.
Of the last few tracks ‘Half Right’ makes the strongest impression with a chilled lo-fi groove to it. ‘Thin skies’ is a strong track to end on.
This album is such a great start from the Reading duo, a really solid 7 out of 10 effort. There is everything here to suggest a project that can continue to grow and develop, carving out a niche all of their own. Catch them Down At The Abbey next weekend on the 12th of September. Amid a strong line-up of artists, they will not be out of place.
Essential Tracks: ‘2003,’ Dark Cells,’ ‘Burnt,’ ‘Right Back’ and ‘Half Right.’
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