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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Aquilo (No 1,736) | Aquilo (No 1,736) |
| (6 months later) | |
| Hometown: Silverdale. | Hometown: Silverdale. |
| The lineup: Tom Higham and Ben Fletcher. | The lineup: Tom Higham and Ben Fletcher. |
| The background: Wild Beasts, Mozart Parties, Bondax and now Aquilo… It's official: there is no such thing as a bad musical entity from the Lake District. Unless the enticingly-named Lumberjack Cowboy Heartbreak Trucking Co, Gritty Britain, Baksheesh and the other local acts playing at this year's Kendal Calling festival are rubbish, in which case, we apologise and immediately retract that contention. Aquilo are possibly the best of the lot from that area. If, that is, you're one of those perverse individuals, like us, with a peculiar penchant for music that sounds like waves of aural honey pouring from your speakers. We like raw power as much as the next noisehead - we particularly like Raw Power - but if you're going to offer the opposite it should always be as limpidly lovely as Aquilo's, as dreamily atmospheric and addicted to melancholy. | The background: Wild Beasts, Mozart Parties, Bondax and now Aquilo… It's official: there is no such thing as a bad musical entity from the Lake District. Unless the enticingly-named Lumberjack Cowboy Heartbreak Trucking Co, Gritty Britain, Baksheesh and the other local acts playing at this year's Kendal Calling festival are rubbish, in which case, we apologise and immediately retract that contention. Aquilo are possibly the best of the lot from that area. If, that is, you're one of those perverse individuals, like us, with a peculiar penchant for music that sounds like waves of aural honey pouring from your speakers. We like raw power as much as the next noisehead - we particularly like Raw Power - but if you're going to offer the opposite it should always be as limpidly lovely as Aquilo's, as dreamily atmospheric and addicted to melancholy. |
| Reading on mobile? Click here to listen | Reading on mobile? Click here to listen |
| Neighbours since they were kids, 23-year-old music production graduate Tom Higham and his youthful ward Ben Fletcher (he's 19) are getting used to their music being described as "beautiful" and "gorgeous", although they're accustomed to a different response, mainly because they were in rock bands: Higham threw shapes onstage to thrash metal while Fletcher lunged around making grunge. As career moves go - these days they use laptops and Logic to create dolorous downtempo electronica and ethereal R&B - this one is up there with Status Quo's switch from psychedelia to boneheaded boogie or the Stranglers shift from organ-fuelled punk to waltz-time pop baroque. They have been compared to Mount Kimbie and London Grammar, the latter particularly pleasing to Aquilo because they were "blown away" as soon as they heard them. You can probably discern the influence of the xx in the production/arrangements (although we can hear more of Air in their lush, layered, quiet immensity and Slowdive in their sunburst linear shimmer) and in the vocals the soothing mid-range sound of… well, we were going to say Chris Martin, only minus his self-regard and with a choirboy innocence and winning wistfulness. There are six songs out there to collect and treasure, each one harmonically rich, with chord sequences designed for maximum poignancy and lyrics that allude to heartache. One of the fans on their SoundCloud put it best: "Just wow." They should be put in charge of this column. | Neighbours since they were kids, 23-year-old music production graduate Tom Higham and his youthful ward Ben Fletcher (he's 19) are getting used to their music being described as "beautiful" and "gorgeous", although they're accustomed to a different response, mainly because they were in rock bands: Higham threw shapes onstage to thrash metal while Fletcher lunged around making grunge. As career moves go - these days they use laptops and Logic to create dolorous downtempo electronica and ethereal R&B - this one is up there with Status Quo's switch from psychedelia to boneheaded boogie or the Stranglers shift from organ-fuelled punk to waltz-time pop baroque. They have been compared to Mount Kimbie and London Grammar, the latter particularly pleasing to Aquilo because they were "blown away" as soon as they heard them. You can probably discern the influence of the xx in the production/arrangements (although we can hear more of Air in their lush, layered, quiet immensity and Slowdive in their sunburst linear shimmer) and in the vocals the soothing mid-range sound of… well, we were going to say Chris Martin, only minus his self-regard and with a choirboy innocence and winning wistfulness. There are six songs out there to collect and treasure, each one harmonically rich, with chord sequences designed for maximum poignancy and lyrics that allude to heartache. One of the fans on their SoundCloud put it best: "Just wow." They should be put in charge of this column. |
| The buzz: "The type of soft, atmospheric music that helps you drift peacefully into another realm of your mind. Or if you're heartbroken [it] works, too." | The buzz: "The type of soft, atmospheric music that helps you drift peacefully into another realm of your mind. Or if you're heartbroken [it] works, too." |
| The truth: Just wow. Most likely to: Create beauty. | |
| Least likely to: Boogie. | Least likely to: Boogie. |
| What to buy: Aquilo's debut EP You There is released today. | What to buy: Aquilo's debut EP You There is released today. |
| File next to: Air, London Grammar, Mount Kimbie, Slowdive. | File next to: Air, London Grammar, Mount Kimbie, Slowdive. |
| Links: soundcloud.com/aquilouk. | Links: soundcloud.com/aquilouk. |
| Monday's new band: Aquilo. | Monday's new band: Aquilo. |