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Source: High Voltage
Subject: Demo of the Month

Bird-loving Brummies, Shady Bard have released a demo of fragile yet enduring beauty. Opening track ‘Torch Song’ possesses an almost ethereal quality, and is one of those songs that you could just let wash over you as you lie back and do absolutely nothing. It is strange that this appears to be a track about the night, because at first it sounds like the awakening of a cold winter’s morning in the countryside.

It begins quietly with delicate chords and a casiotone synth; followed by a gentle yet persistent bass, which along with vocal harmonies, gradually becomes louder and is joined by tinkling piano and a sweeping guitar melody high in the mix; slowly but surely rising into an uplifting crescendo, before eventually returning to silence.

The group seem to be fond of songs that start slowly and quietly, before rising to a crescendo and then falling back again, if track two ‘Bobby’ is anything to go by. Lyrics like ‘Look what you’ve done Bobby, see what you’ve done / You’ve sold out your soul and you shot down the sun’ are sung emotively over piano in a more up-tempo ballad that is perhaps a distant relative of Coldplay’s earlier work.

Final track ‘Memory Tree’ is as lovely if not lovelier than the first, and is perhaps better for avoiding the quiet-loud-quiet formula. The male lead vocalist of the last two tracks is joined by a breathy female singer, creating a gorgeous harmony. Xylophones are used, but thankfully this leads to a sound more reminiscent of Pavement’s label-mate Adem rather than the sickly-sweet Magic Numbers. A quietly beautiful antidote to the stresses of life’s rush-hours. 4/5

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