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| Letters To Fiesta – New Band Up North #27 | Letters To Fiesta – New Band Up North #27 |
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| Manchester four-piece Letters To Fiesta are making electro-pop with streams of hysteria running through its veins. Anna-Louisa Etherington fronts the band, and it's her energetic, urgent, volatile vocal range that makes you stop and listen. Going from beautiful, slow melodies to rapid yelps and gasps just to prove how hard it is to sing that fast and move up and down octaves the way she does. | Manchester four-piece Letters To Fiesta are making electro-pop with streams of hysteria running through its veins. Anna-Louisa Etherington fronts the band, and it's her energetic, urgent, volatile vocal range that makes you stop and listen. Going from beautiful, slow melodies to rapid yelps and gasps just to prove how hard it is to sing that fast and move up and down octaves the way she does. |
| Etherington's voice has been compared to Kate Bush, unsurprisingly, and there are hints of Karen O too. But one group I don't think Letters To Fiesta have been compared with is Tegan and Sara. The Canadian twin sisters sing with the same sense of urgency to get their words out and there's a similar strength in delivery between the two groups. | Etherington's voice has been compared to Kate Bush, unsurprisingly, and there are hints of Karen O too. But one group I don't think Letters To Fiesta have been compared with is Tegan and Sara. The Canadian twin sisters sing with the same sense of urgency to get their words out and there's a similar strength in delivery between the two groups. |
| Etherington uses her voice very much as an instrument weaving around sample pads and synths, which she plays too, while Tom Brydon plays guitar, Andy Fletcher's on bass and Dan Houghton bangs the drums. | Etherington uses her voice very much as an instrument weaving around sample pads and synths, which she plays too, while Tom Brydon plays guitar, Andy Fletcher's on bass and Dan Houghton bangs the drums. |
| I first heard the band a couple of years ago when their sound would have fitted more with words like shoegaze and indie. My community radio co-presenter Olivia Taylor introduced me to them. I was hooked immediately and we kept playing them. | I first heard the band a couple of years ago when their sound would have fitted more with words like shoegaze and indie. My community radio co-presenter Olivia Taylor introduced me to them. I was hooked immediately and we kept playing them. |
| After a few lineup changes they're back with a slightly new sound. They've been experimenting with new noises to make their sound more electronic and I'm glad to say I'm still hooked. Pop remains at the heart of what they're doing. Like any good pop music it make you want to learn all the words but also makes you reflective and a little sad. | After a few lineup changes they're back with a slightly new sound. They've been experimenting with new noises to make their sound more electronic and I'm glad to say I'm still hooked. Pop remains at the heart of what they're doing. Like any good pop music it make you want to learn all the words but also makes you reflective and a little sad. |
| They self-released their first single Mesosphere in March and since then they've been working to develop their overwhelming pop sound and write more songs. It's this single that reminds me slightly of Tegan and Sara with the repetitive and strong chorus: "You lost your soul. You lost, you lost your soul." It's a beautiful yet upbeat, nostalgic pop tune. It starts with a haunting ethereal sound and samples of a cricket's croak, which runs through the song too. | They self-released their first single Mesosphere in March and since then they've been working to develop their overwhelming pop sound and write more songs. It's this single that reminds me slightly of Tegan and Sara with the repetitive and strong chorus: "You lost your soul. You lost, you lost your soul." It's a beautiful yet upbeat, nostalgic pop tune. It starts with a haunting ethereal sound and samples of a cricket's croak, which runs through the song too. |
| Etherington is from the Lake District and says she takes "an ethereal approach to melodies, which comes from a love of being outdoors and the desire to be free." Brydon is from the North East and Fletcher and Houghton are both from Stockport. Now they've made Manchester's Northern Quarter their home for making music together. They say the band started after "a lot of patience" but was fuelled by "a lot of inspiration" they'd all been gathering up. | Etherington is from the Lake District and says she takes "an ethereal approach to melodies, which comes from a love of being outdoors and the desire to be free." Brydon is from the North East and Fletcher and Houghton are both from Stockport. Now they've made Manchester's Northern Quarter their home for making music together. They say the band started after "a lot of patience" but was fuelled by "a lot of inspiration" they'd all been gathering up. |
| They're influenced by "life, loss, gain and matters of the heart", which covers a fair amount doesn't it? But those themes certainly come across in their music. When you listen to Statuettes it fits with "gain" and "matters of the heart". Immediately you know the band aren't just making fast pop anthems but beautiful, soft love songs too. The vocal range goes to another level as well – a much higher one. The gentle plucking guitar dances around Etherington's voice affectionately as we hear "You are my star." | They're influenced by "life, loss, gain and matters of the heart", which covers a fair amount doesn't it? But those themes certainly come across in their music. When you listen to Statuettes it fits with "gain" and "matters of the heart". Immediately you know the band aren't just making fast pop anthems but beautiful, soft love songs too. The vocal range goes to another level as well – a much higher one. The gentle plucking guitar dances around Etherington's voice affectionately as we hear "You are my star." |
| The latest song to hit SoundCloud is called Vampires and it's different yet again. It starts with an echoing organ-like sound that could accompany the sunrise, which is obviously not great for vampires but it's a treat to our ears. The lyrics do deal with the difficulty of being a vampire: "You're half a life, that's what you are." So it caters to a whole new audience too, making you feel quite sorry for the nightly creatures. | The latest song to hit SoundCloud is called Vampires and it's different yet again. It starts with an echoing organ-like sound that could accompany the sunrise, which is obviously not great for vampires but it's a treat to our ears. The lyrics do deal with the difficulty of being a vampire: "You're half a life, that's what you are." So it caters to a whole new audience too, making you feel quite sorry for the nightly creatures. |
| The song transports you to a huge valley where you're surrounded by huge hills on either side. You expect the band to be on the top of the landscape as the vocals are given so much space and freedom to fly away into the air and the bounce off the sides of the valley. Tribal drums that have been brought into the 21st century with industrial bangs and electronic tinged hi-hats come in and the steady beat has you nodding your head back and forth wanting to shout the words up to the top of the hill. | The song transports you to a huge valley where you're surrounded by huge hills on either side. You expect the band to be on the top of the landscape as the vocals are given so much space and freedom to fly away into the air and the bounce off the sides of the valley. Tribal drums that have been brought into the 21st century with industrial bangs and electronic tinged hi-hats come in and the steady beat has you nodding your head back and forth wanting to shout the words up to the top of the hill. |
| So after a "long year of hibernation recording and writing" they're ready to show how ambitious they are. When I say ambitious I mean it too, as they told me "headlining the main stage at Glastonbury in 2014" is top of the list. | So after a "long year of hibernation recording and writing" they're ready to show how ambitious they are. When I say ambitious I mean it too, as they told me "headlining the main stage at Glastonbury in 2014" is top of the list. |
| Letters To Fiesta release their first EP very soon so keep your eyes peeled. | Letters To Fiesta release their first EP very soon so keep your eyes peeled. |
| • Emily Brinnand is a freelance journalist, radio presenter and producer. You can follow her on Twitter @EmilyBrinnand. If you're in a northern band, Emily wants to hear from you so please Tweet her links to your music | • Emily Brinnand is a freelance journalist, radio presenter and producer. You can follow her on Twitter @EmilyBrinnand. If you're in a northern band, Emily wants to hear from you so please Tweet her links to your music |
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