If for some reason you haven’t heard of Tall Ships yet, then
shame on you. Ric, Matt and Jamie have been kicking about for a while now,
supporting great acts such as We Are Scientists, and they have been concocting
their debut LP throughout 2011. After whetting our appetite with lead singles ‘T=0’
and ‘Gallop’, we can now find out if the band have built on the promise of their
first two EPs.
And in fact this hope is fulfilled, in quite a literal way,
by ‘Ode To Ancestors’ and ‘Books’, tracks that have already appeared on the
There Is Nothing But Chemistry Here EP and Tall Ships EP respectively. What
were once rough diamonds have now been polished to the max, and they are all
the better for it. ‘Ode To Ancestors’ starts off softer than its predecessor
and by the end of track is much, much bigger, with pounding drums adding to the
cumulative vocal harmonies and dancing melodies. On ‘Books’ the band enlisted
the help of any fan that could make it to a primary school near their Brighton
base to create a mammoth of a vocal track, with quite possibly the biggest
chorus in the world ever.
The DIY choir also feature on closing track ‘Murmurations’
which is a real masterclass of songcraft. The song starts with a pitter-patter
of electronic beats which turns into a thudding metronome which is joined by a
single guitar which is then joined by … you get the idea. This painstaking
layering eventually erupts into a vibrant chorus urging the listener to “stay with me, for just a while, hold me
close, confirm my denial”.
And there is vibrancy and warmth all over this album, even
down the samples of young children frolicking and singing in between tracks. ‘Best
Ever’ is a playful instrumental and makes for a particularly satisfying intro
into ‘Phosphorescence’ (yes, that is the correct spelling … I think). ‘Idolatry’
provides a break from the euphoria, with its tender vocals and mournful strains
of guitar. It is to the credit of this record that it can incorporate such
diverse moods without any sign of discordance whatsoever.
Some have likened Tall Ships to a young Biffy Clyro, and
there are snatches of glimpses where this may appear to be true, especially in
the raw guitar work. However, Tall Ships are not a band that need the piggyback
such comparisons give. Everything
Touching is as bold a statement as the band could ever possibly make;
rarely does one come across such a confident debut. The band start their UK
tour on Wednesday, and if indeed there are people who haven’t got the Tall
Ships memo yet, this will be rectified soon enough.
8/10
Buy Everything Touching here
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