(experimental, alternative, psychedelic, electronic) New North Wales - New North Wales - 2009, MP3, V0

Album info
NEW NORTH WALES - New North Wales
Mobeer
HOME LISTENING / MODERN CLASSICAL / AMBIENT
Released: Aug 2009
Catalogue Number: MOBEER:008
*STRICTLY LIMITED HAND-PACKAGED CD FROM MOBEER - 375 COPIES ONLY FOR THE WORLD HOUSED WITH A PRINTED MOTEER BEERMAT, EACH COPY INDIVIDUALLY NUMBERED AND ASSEMBLED* Of all the bands related to the whole Hood/Remote Viewer axis, Empress have always been in many ways closest to our hearts. Their fragile blend of simple, broken songwriting and deceptively intricate production has an effect on us unlike anything else that comes to mind, and the few Remote Viewer (and even fewer Hood songs) that feature Empress singer Nicola Hodgkinson always find themselves jumping the playlist queue round these parts. Anyway, after a good few years hiding away somewhere at the other end of the planet, Chris Coyle and Nicola Hodgkinson at long last make a return, now re-grouped as New North Wales and delivering by far the most anticipated release on the ever-charming mobeer imprint with 6 sublime new songs. 'Stormhead' ambles into life with a combination of world-weary acoustic guitar arpeggios and suitably morose piano phrases, setting up Hodgkinson to whisper in your ear: "There's something to this sun/That makes the heart grow cold." Instantly, New North Wales resituate you in their melancholy, slowcore universe where summer is an unwelcome intruder on that familiar emotional perma-winter. As the title intimates, 'Snow Cello' finds the duo far more at home; it's an especially resonant piece, all filled up with vinyl crackle, broken strings and a strangely comforting tale of heartbreak. Continuing with this stark, emotionally brittle theme is 'The Way Back Home', full of groaning floorboards, creaking violins and the desolate refrain of "Bring me back home". Although the gentle, disheveled pluckings and generally quite upbeat strains of 'Our Restless Plans' and 'A Step Too Far' bring a much needed lightness to certain corners of this beautiful EP, the disc ends with a fittingly forlorn instrumental: 'Last Light' flirts with warmth and chamber folk loveliness, setting major-key guitar melodies against twinkling xylophone, yet still there's an overwhelmingly wistful feel to it all - something underlined by the slow unevenness of the bow strokes colouring its quivering strings. This is an outstanding release for Mobeer, leaving you craving much, much more after just twenty minutes or so of great, intimate recordings. It's a shame that so few of you will get to have one of these gorgeous little packages - you know what you need to do if you don't wanna miss out.