What is it about those girl/boy harmonies? Coming at you like a train fuelled in a similar fashion to that Laura Marling/Mystery Jests/Noah and the Whale steamroller are these two young ruffians Paolo and Claire. However the real difference here being that Claire hasn't yet broken the heart of Paolo, as Laura did to Noah Fink, and decided to jump aboard the Mumford and Sons success ship headed to America, as Laura did. Lets hope that doesn't happen. We have access to three songs of presents a couple of demos and a more-sure of itself, seemingly finalised, song 'Six Sides' which is pure excellence. It oozes honesty and quality as if the pair of them don't have any other agenda, sweeping you along in the feel of an October night with the toffee apple kisses still present. The lyrics in all the songs are allowed to take centre stage, the listener not being blasted away by a big bass, and the delicate tones of both Paolo and Claire compliment each other brilliantly.
There are two areas within all the songs that make sure they are successful, the first one being that the music reminds not copies,you feel as if you have heard some aspects of the music before ie 'Young Love' and '5 Years Time' but that's as far as it goes, themes pop up now again but it all still sounds original. The second success lies in the fact that the music does not feel self-contained, the songs evoke your own memories of love and events. We don't feel isolated by them talking about their own experiences and feelings we can join in with the lyrics and melody. And that is a very hard task.
Exciting to see what these two love birds can do next. Just don't break up.
Icona don't really lie about the music they make deciding to put the 'genre' in their name, and like a couple of Swedish wonders before them (Robyn, Lykke Li) they decide to flip that said 'judge-a-book-by-its-cover' genre on its head then smash up the rulebook that it came from with a big dose of cool. Take 'Manners', Icona's first proper single and the track that has garnered them the most attention, this is a first-class synth anthem with easily the biggest chorus of the year thus far, leaving normal radio giants/kidnappers huddling in the shadows. It glitches and spins, wobbles and punches, carrying with it a musically infectious disease. The video, which kick started the post carries on the vein of madness and big vibes. If only normal people could look this cool with so much neon paint being splashed around, but normally the only place this usually occurs is on fourteen year old out on the pull for the first time. Check'it. The girls don't stop there, oh no, sweeping us away with a collaboration of epic proportions joining with French producer-whizzes Logo. The resultant melting pot of superb, 'Luvsick', is exactly that, superb, fusing that wonderfully fresh french swagger-cool sound and the slightly off-English sexy of Icona. Hits all day.
And finally, to top it all off, the one and only indie-rap boys Chiddy Bang sample 'Manners' in their latest single 'Mind Your Manners' the first track of the debut. Fresh from killing it on the mixtape, they do what they have the capabilities of doing with every song by killing it again.
Deep Breath.
Exploding back into action like supernova, except it's a start rather than the end, we have the first post since the apocalyptic feeling of Glastonbury. Taken a while to gather the thoughts and get back on it. So here we go, Fort Lean are another example of a band who are a pearl at the bottom of the ocean, who, when scraped above water make your life that o so little bit sweeter. Hailing from the rather cool regions of Brooklyn, they make that 2004 music, by 2004 music we reference the amazing debut by The Killers which they can no longer/ seem to want to recreate. Well, Fort Lean fit that soft space in between your ribs brilliantly, with their short sharp bursts of indie elegance, favourite 'Beach Holiday' starts off slowly and methodically enough, until suddenly it generates a sing-a-long, stadium sized chorus, the same can be said for 'Perfect', which again gives you a musical sized slap awakening the dance genes nestled deep within your DNA. The pace of the EP is checked with the other two songs 'High Defintion' and 'Dreams (Never Come True)' which give the release more balance and show a more diverse side to the band making sure there is truly something for everyone.
