ANTI-RAP ALTERNATIVE FOLK
These are the words emblazened on A Band Of Buriers webportal, under which one of their photos sees the outfit bedecked in cult-like robes not unlike say half remembered Flaming Lips wannabes The Polyphonic Spree, both pretty fucking brave statements in some ways but dig a little and you’ll hear these guys aren’t about gimmicks at all. In fact their songwriting takes in classicism that subverts folk, classical arrangements and looping beat-couplets merge with James P Honey’s weathered croak into a sound that is at once refreshing, off kilter and quite beguiling. Maybe they mean they’re flipping the Anti-Folk for something grander who knows? But we like it!
Forming in 2011, this English collective consist of the aformentioned Honey, Jamie Romain, a classical cellist, and an accompanying female backing choir. Then they released their self-titled debut album with independent label Decorative Stamp
‘Slides By’ is the first single release from their forthcoming album ‘Filth’ (to be released in July) and is another progression. A delicately plucked, almost folk like, finger picked guitar motif houses Honey’s tumbling and starkly poetic imagery that slithers accross this non melody, it is enveloped by the elegance of a mournful cello and sighing backings in it’s majestic second portion. Capturing moments, imagery, words and piecing them back together again is quite some feat. ‘From my paper mache crown/down to the skin the beneath toes/I grow inwards’, the ghosts of Cohen and Callaghan drift somewhere in the ether, but Honey’s intensity and offkilter performance is captivating and utterly unique.
The video is a fascinating part of the song’s life, shot by Sam Barker in a single take and featuring every member of the band. Barker has worked on a wide range of projects, from photographing the emergency services in Iraq to the current Hugo Boss fragrance ad campaign, and has 10 photographs featured in the permanent collection at the National Portrait Gallery. Watch the video for ‘Slides By’ here.
I look forward to getting into ‘Filth’ upon it’s release in July.
