This is the debut single from Spanish band SVTIL (and also the lead release from their upcoming debut EP). So why are LSF, a site focussed on music from Yorkshire, reviewing this?

Well, it’s partially because SVTIL are an all-female band, and this is released on a female run label – Incantation – the ‘focus of which ‘will always be to elevate the female voice’ – and this something that is important (more information about the label below). And also that the label was co-founded by Martha Phillips of The Elephant Trees. And partially, and much much more importantly, because it’s a damn fine record by a damn fine band.

.If, and I have nothing else to go on, this song is an indication of what SVTIL does; then they play alternative rock with intricate ringing guitar lines that weave their magic over a bassline that really hits the spot, and solid and inventive drums. And really great vocals.

‘Hmm’ I hear you mutter under your breath, ‘Is there anything else?’. Well, yes, and this is the thing that makes this track great, it has an edge of grunge, and a dose of pop. The pop comes from a tune that bores it’s way into your head, and a beat makes you want to dance like crazy, singing along. You get the picture? This is one catchy song.

Actually there is something else, and it’s one of my rather strange thoughts, but if you took out the intricate weaving guitar and replaced it with something more ‘straight forward’ it would almost sound like one of those ‘poppy rock’ tracks from the 80s’. It is a strange thought, and one you may not agree with, but then again I get these from time to time as you may know. This isn’t a criticism because it’s a reflection of the fact that this has a tune to die for. And, like me, you may also hear at times something of a hint of U2 in there; it’s that tumbling waterfall of guitar and throbbing bass.

And the more I listen to the song the more I find myself listening to the words. I find them captivating, and compelling – the words tumble out in short phrases that make sense when you take them as a whole but don’t tell a straightforward story taken individually phrase by phrase. The band explain that the song ‘is about dreams, the ones you keep to yourself and only voice out loud alone at night. It plays with the fear that people will dismiss them and the rage you feel when something that important to you gets treated like a joke.

The moon is a huge inspiration for us, so we used it as a way to represent our dreams, believing even if we don’t see it, they have a huge impact on our lives and deep down know our dreams will come true.

Also night time is where a huge part of our lyrics are written if not all of them, so is a safe
space where only the writer, the moon and their feelings are present with no one there
to judge’.
.
But enough of me picking this apart because we can all do that to a song, can’t we? And ultimately the individual elements of sound aren’t important. It’s what it sounds like as a whole that’s important. And, in a song where the words are clearly important, they are good.

‘Raised By The Moon’ is a fantastic song that is compelling musically and lyrically, It is at once both a song to dance to, and has a complexity musically and lyrically that means you can sit down and listen to it. Actually in my case I can sit and listen to it on repeat without the slightest sign of boredom setting in; there’s always something new to hear. And that tune is horribly addictive.

This is an incredibly impressive debut single, frankly I’m holding my breath until the EP comes out.

The info

SVTIL

Spanish three-piece SVTIL have been gathering momentum after playing shows across Europe and beyond. Paula (Vocals, Guitar), Nerea (Bass) and Cris (Drums) have toured their distinctive sound through Barcelona, Valencia, Tarragona and London.

‘The music scene for our band is pretty challenging, the majority of indie music consumed here is in Spanish not English. Our sound doesn’t fit with the wave of indie that is made here and with the big indie bands in Spain that float towards a different type of indie music.

Since the beginning we always thought our music would fit better in the British music scene. Our influences and the larger part of music we listen to are from there and we’ve always been drawn to the UK music scene.

We had the pleasure of playing a gig in London last year with The Elephant Trees and people were welcoming our sound. We have this opportunity thanks to other indie Spanish bands that have opened the door in the UK for bands like us. We are so excited to be working with Natasha and Martha (of Incantation), it means so much that they can see the potential in our music and want to support us’.

http://www.facebook.com/svtilband/
http://www.instagram.com/svtilband

Incantation

Through times of uncertainty, inspiration is needed to guide and support the music industry and the challenges it now faces. Sounds, movements and downright talent is being lost in the current landslide of chaos, however, through the grit, is an outstretched arm ready to pull artists out of the rubble.

Founded and fronted by Martha Phillips and Natasha Arciniega, a pair that encapsulate all things independence, DIY, and womanhood. The Elephant Trees frontwoman and manager are heading a new platform that encompasses diversity and freedom of creativity.

Introducing Incantation, a grassroots label for grassroots artists looking to develop themselves in the ever-competitive world of music. A brand-new female-ran imprint that nurtures emerging artists and guides them through the wilderness of artist development, copyright and music ownership, content strategy, performance and releasing, the latter of which will be supported by Horus and Anara Publishing.

Starting the label in the middle of a pandemic truly represents Incantation’s ethics; standing up in adversity to showcase their beliefs and undeniably good music.

“In truth, we are very privileged to still be releasing music right now, a lot of our friends’ bands have not been so fortunate, or the opportunities are no longer there, or financially it isn’t possible. It’s been a struggle, but we have learnt a lot and that essentially is what we want this label to become, a home for the grassroots music in Manchester and beyond that is fighting to be heard. We have a lot of skills in music production, songwriting, design and content production – Natasha brings with her all this management knowledge, and really knows how to pull together a campaign, but really we just love music and want to support our friends to keep releasing and build a community here, that women and the LGBTQ+ community can feel part of. The focus of the label will always be to elevate the female voice.” – Martha

Releases so far have come from ‘Ashleigh’, who amassed over 10,000 streams on her debut single in a month, re:tract feat. Martha, who’s track together got radio play on Huw Stephens BBC Intro show and the SVTL release.

Incantation offers support from all corners, from Artist Development (image, songwriting, production, mixing, mastering) to campaign & social media strategies and content production. They want to support any artist or client who works with them in achieving their goals – and they offer everything they need to make that happen in one place.

They have huge plans for Incantation including a recording studio space where their artists can record, creative and be inspired. They are currently enquiring for financial investment for 2021/22

For further information contact: incantation.hola@gmail.com
Keep up to date with Incantation here: https://www.instagram.com/incantationrecords/

Window Seat is a new project from Sam (the drummer from DENSE and Mondo Bizarre) and Jacob (Ex-Muffin and now in Pop Vulture). The two of them are friends and have been writing and playing music together since they met in 2016.

I’m going to say, right at the top, that ‘Out of Touch’ is absolutely fantastic. I’ve had it for a while now and as time has gone by I’ve grown to love it more and more, and I’ve found new things in it every time I listen to it. And that’s something, as you may know, I really love in a song.

The thing is that, I now feel my original thoughts about it are to some degree wrong (see below). One of the benefits of having something around for a while I guess. The duo describe their sound as ‘melancholic indietronica’. Melancholic is obvious, and the track is. But ‘indietronica’ is open to interpretation. So what does it sound like? My take on it – which differs from how I first heard it = is that somewhere in there, there are sounds and feels that perhaps you might get in DENSE, Mondo Bizarre and Muffin. Not in a hit you in the face kind of way but subtly and quietly.

In order for you to understand what I’m about to say you need to know that this song is one of those songs that has builds, it builds and changes. And I can’t take any credit – or that matter blame – for this as it comes mainly from one of my helpful friends (not the usual helpful friend). They said that at points it sounds like ‘Radiohead playing Crosby, Stills and Nash’ and then at others ‘Radiohead playing a King Crimson song, partly an older King Crimson song and then a much later one’, with – and this is me – hints of psychedelic jazz-rock and dream pop.

So what this means is that in the quieter bits it has beautiful vocal harmonies over slightly warped guitar, and then as it builds – gradually and quietly – it becomes more dreamy, then kind of jazzy psychedelic rock.

I realise that this may be or, more likely may not be, helpful to you. But one thing you need to know and understand is that their sound is atmospheric, layers of atmospheric sounds. The song is about the lockdown and how it makes people feel. The sound reflects that – it’s hazy, and the builds reflect that sense of ‘not knowing what day it is or where we’re going’ that I think we’ve all experienced as days blend into each other. But somehow the lighter sections offer a sense of calm, a feeling that there’s refuge from the shit, at least musically, as the words don’t do that. The words speak of ‘being on my island’ and ‘get dressed, stop crying’.So although about a particular time and thing, the words for me could be applied to any situation where you’re in a situation that is not of your making, when you just can’t do anything but be on your own, feeling desperate.

But it does this with such a musical beauty that you feel uplifted by the song, you just can’t help but to be taken by the music. It is intimate yet at the same time huge, it sounds quiet even when it’s loud, it’s layered and dense yet at the same time it has space and simplicity. It’s put together so well, technically you can’t fault it, but at the same time this is all about feel and atmosphere, the production never overwhelms that, it helps it.

This is an incredibly impressive first release from the duo. It’s beautiful – musically, in feel and atmosphere, and in the way it’s put together. They hint that they have more on the way and I, for one, am looking forward to hearing more.

What I originally thought when Sam asked me for my thoughts – ‘what I’d label this as is hard – weirdly, or perhaps not so weirdly, it kinda has some elements of DENSE and Mondo Bizarre plus something of an alt-folk thing at points as well as something I might call indie, specifically indie-pop, plus something which kinda falls into the progressive jazz-rock sound. This had me running to my vinyl collection as it reminded me of some progressive jazz-rock I have, I failed to identify exactly what at the time but as I’m writing this listening to it I now know what it kind of reminded me of – and that is King Crimson (a mix of early and later King Crimson). That guitar is very Fripp – both the picked section and the big swell. The opening section is very prog – it’s the vocals and the guitar feel. That perhaps is not that surprising as I always found Muffin to be quite prog’.

So yes, there are some things I’m still sticking with, but not others. Strange how what you think about a song changes over time isn’t it?

The info

Window Seat is a project born through a number of factors; two best friends, an unusual abundance of time from the usual daily lives as a result of the pandemic, and a shared love of producing meaningful music from their own home in Hyde Park, Leeds.

Sam and Jacob have been writing music together from the first day they met in 2016 in various bands and groups, and Window Seat sees the duo exercising a musical and emotional muscle that they have been wanting to create for some time.

‘Being as close as we are and the circumstances in which we met, we make music together as much as we talk about our everyday lives. This project sort of combines those two elements and allows us to express ourselves in a medium we both understand. The lyrics have a poignant specificity to ourselves and our own issues and struggles, yet we want them to have the poignant simplicity to speak for anyone and their own battles that they face in life. We want our music to resonate with people and offer a sense of comforting familiarity that we ourselves so often find in our favourite songs.’

Although the duo’s tracks are heavily laden with interlocking melodies and various atmospheric textures, the duo write, create, record and mix all of these sounds themselves in their own home and are constantly working on new material to release in what is an unsettling time for the music industry.

‘We always want to make sure we have full control over the sounds and songs that we create; being your own producers adds a new element of consideration over the music which although can be challenging at times, we hope adds a further dimension of detail to our tracks which we hope people can hear’.

https://www.facebook.com/sitatthewindowseat
https://www.instagram.com/sitatthewindowseat/

We Are One ‘were born and bred in Yorkshire – Doncaster if I’m reading their bio right – but formed in London ‘We Are Rock n Roll’ is their second single. Their first – We Are From Doncaster’ is certainly nailing their colours to the mast but why the hell not be proud of where you’re from.

They describe themselves as a hip-hop/punk band, that hard rocking punk with hints of post-hardcore and metal – more than hints to be totally honest. And if you’re expecting something played at breakneck speed, you’d be wrong. Look, this is no ballad obviously, OK? And it comes with loads of punk attitude. Actually this is a band who come with attitude in spades, and there’s nothing wrong with that if you’ve got the musical chops to back it up, and they have that.

It also comes with loads of obvious musical skill – there is guitar to die for, pounding drums, throbbing bass. And it’s put together really well. The whole – the punky vocals, the post-hardcore guitars, the hints of hip-hop, the surprise of the harmony backing vocals – is thrilling, exciting, a blast, a riot. It’s surprisingly addictive; this kind of crept up on me, after listening to it three or four t\imes I suddenly found myself reaching for it, singing along, at the oddest times.

This is an anthem, a declaration of intent, a statement of who this band are. And they are fucking rock ‘n’ roll. This is fucking rock ‘n’ roll. Play loud – very loud, the louder the better – and proud.

This is Doncaster’s The Strangers debut single, and what a debut. It’s a blast – a short blast, this thing is under 1½ minutes long – of punky pop.

I guess the title needs some explanation. Martha, the band’s singer, explains ‘It’s partly inspired by my brother as he is in touch with his femininity and hasn’t got all these toxic ideas about masculinity, but he’s completely straight’. To tackle gender politics in a song that’s this short is something of a task but it works. And the lyrics come with a sense of humour, and this is all good.

The thing about this track is that, while you could easily put it into the punk-pop niche, let’s not do that. It has something of a Twee sound. Twee is a thing that started in the mid-80s with bands like Talulah Gosh; and basically it’s kind of punky guitars with non-punky – usually female – vocals. The band are clearly not old enough to have heard any Twee bands at the time, so maybe they came up with this as a result of mixing their influences, who knows. Anyway this for me is a good thing, I was a fan of Twee bands at the time.

I’m going to stop thinking aloud about possible influences because, and this is the key thing, this song is incredibly fun, charming and, although I’m slightly wary of using this word, sweet. It’s a band doing their own thing and having huge fun doing it. Let’s not forget that music can be fun, and this reminds me of that.

I’m marking The Strangerz as a band to watch. This is a fantastic debut.

The info

The Strangerz are a new alternative band from Doncaster, with Martha Kelly on vocals, Shannon Gebbie on drums, Tobin Middleton on bass and Tom Kelly on guitar

https://www.facebook.com/thestrangersz/