As the clocks go back, and winter darkness draws in, it’s perhaps appropriate that I introduce to you atmosphere setting Cardiff based collective called Winter Villains, who are currently catching the enraptured attention of much of the Welsh Media. Rather like recent local composite groups before them such as Islet and Brandyman: Winter Villains are a coming together of five talents who have previously been seen at work on other local acts(Little Arrow, The Evening Chorus, The School, Ivan Moult etc), born maybe out of the relative tightness of the local scene, or forged through friendship and necessity but who cares how it happened? Because Winter Villains five tracks thus far rustle with hard won experience, throbbing heart and a promise of what’s to come. Their song writing is earnest and to the point, shorn of many of the modern studio gadgetry there’s an honesty, and a purity at work here.
Winter Villain’s nascent compositions are formed of skeletal organic arrangements and given life by hushed multiple-part vocals provided by Josef Prygodzicz, Ivan Moult, Callum Duggan, Faye Gibson and William Hughes are at once compelling and warming each background takes on the form of the undulating landscapes. From ‘Thorns’ an exhibition in subtlety and release: that’s tinkling pianos, delicate string arrangements and holding hand vocal harmonies clamber up hills and admire the view. To their standout so far ‘House of Knives’ that gently see saws from twinkling keyboard line to almost ominous rhythms, sewn with plaintive, almost haunted male/female refrains that hang and shiver through the air like your breath in abandoned buildings in the middle of nowhere. For a more electronic version hear the delightfully hiccupping Charlie Francis Remix below.
House of Knives – Charlie Francis remix by WinterVillains
The sparse producing allowing each member space to breathe in and exhale: this could lead place them into the same orbit as The XX but that might be quite a lazy comparison, for there’s is that borne of the folk tradition sprinkled with experimental dashes and crystallised by an experienced hand in well known producer Charlie Francis(Sweet Baboo, R.E.M et al). What sets the Winter Villains apart is their ability to set a tone, out of very little: understated instrumentals and pared back arrangements that allow them an unfussy, unhurried platform upon which to paint vivid pictures in your mind. Winter Villains are hoping to have their full debut finished by early 2012, in the meantime keep an eye on them there mountains, you never know what might emerge.
