Highly likely to be chart-bothering stuff, ‘Catch Fire‘ by Liverpool five-piece HICARI is big, brash and a solid statement of intent. Subtle it ain’t! Epic synths wrestle with a vocal delivered with great gusto by lead singer Shayaan Oshidar. Tight as you like, it’s pure pop with that unmistakeable, sweeping festival vibe.
Out of the increasingly diverse and prestigious Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA), there’s a gleeful sheen to proceedings. Citing bands like CHVRCHES as an influence, there’s also an air of another up and coming artist, Kloe. Not perhaps as urban, but equally embracing of that commercial but credible aesthetic, if such old-school differences still matter.
A big sound for a big audience, HICARI may mean ‘light’ in Japanese but this thumping and open single is anything but.
‘Catch Fire’ is released 5/8/16.
