Twilight Treat
Emerging from the ranks of indie crusaders Young & Lost Club, Oh Minnows are proving to be a particularly exciting addition to the scene. Having been suggested for fans of Deerhunter, Wild Nothing and New Order; you can anticipate melancholy sans moping and an intense atmosphere full of rich darkness, drama and pure melody. Hold tight, because this is some pretty serious stuff.
Whilst Oh Minnows' journey may already seem quite epic in moving from NYC to LDN, For Shadows has in fact traversed much further than that. In his first project since the demise of Semifinalists, Chris Steele-Nicolson took the songwriting process for this record over land and sea (via a frozen warehouse in the depths of Chicago's winter) adding an extra element to the sentiment ingrained throughout. Blending elements of dreamy pop with a more solemn indie edge, the outcome is as atmospheric as it is sumptuous.
Instrumentally, fuzzy guitars compliment phantasmagoric synth and an ethereal vocal found somewhere in the shadows of twilight. Overall, this really does feel like a record you should only ever listen to at night. It's a sense most apparent in tracks like At The Rehearsal; which boasts fragile silvery tones sounding like burning stars and pale moonlight. It's like a spell just waiting to be broken. But on the other hand, songs like The Nighmare Floor take on a post-rock guise as the melodies venture out into the inky blue sky. And then there's Hurry, a tune that sounds like the opening credits for a classic eighties film, with more shoulder pads than you could ever dream of. While the atmosphere may shift, it still remains to feel almost cinematic in its execution, with a tone that will engage in a way that few artists can.
Last year, Oh Minnows opened a show for Dry The River - a band that can conjure an atmosphere so palpably moving that at set of theirs feels almost spiritual. We have a feeling that this is exactly what a record like For Shadows would achieve on stage too - so we have every hope in getting to catch them live very soon.