• Alana Henderson – Wax and Wane EP

    May 3, 2013 - By 

    Alana Henderson’s debut EP is a strong statement of intent. These dark folk songs are dominated by her powerful, nuanced cello playing and clear voice, with an able supporting cast complimenting each dramatic stroke with subtle harmonic flicks, background croons and interpretive percussion. It’s a beautifully organic sound, one which should appeal more to followers of the US indie end of the folk spectrum than to Mumford devotees. The opening title track is a thing of wonder, immediate and striking but revealing more of itself with every listen. Henderson’s confident cello stabs take centre stage, plucking, swooning and swelling round…

  • Vanilla Gloom – Vexed EP

    May 3, 2013 - By 

    Vanilla Gloom. It sounds like the sort of thing a depressed Willy Wonka might create. A grunge gumdrop, say. Just a taste and you’re transported back, back, back in time, all the way to the early-Nineties and a rain-slicked Seattle. Creatures in plaid lumberjack shirts and distressed jeans stalk the land, stomping their enemies under their Doc Marten-ed heels, paying tribute to King Kurt. Times are heavy. Times are good. Vanilla Gloom’s Vexed EP will take you back to those times just as surely as any magic lozenge. They’re a new-fangled, guitar-toting, female three-piece. They’re from Derry, originally, now based…