Wildfire

Description

Triggered by teenage obsessions with British power pop and Glaswegian indie dreamers, the stunning 12-track collection is a sonic journey of sounds, building on the bands bedrock of urgent anthems, thumped drums, sweet strums and tuba, as seen on 2012s debut album One, For Words. Developing their sound, the band have fused their folk based roots with 90s synth hooks, huge orchestral waves and choral arrangements which they describe as a blanket of voices.

We wouldnt call it a huge change in direction, says lead female Julia. More an evolution. Theres a signature Cobblers recipe that well always follow. Thats strong vocal harmonies, powerful drums, and hooky melodies and these are all still here. But the instrumentation has grown, thats the biggest difference. Anyone that already knows our music will still be able to hear that Cobblers sound.

As the albums name suggests, these new musical flames flicker and leap in unexpected directions but at their core is the genuine warmth of a band who sing, play and create in harmony. Effortlessly moving between moments of light and shade, Wildfire succeeds in its ability to move from the serious (like dramatic opener Laws, and the dark narrative of Sober the darkest song Ive ever written says lead singer Matt) to the joyous (the summery Win Again, the sea shanty cries of St Tropez and the rich instrumentation of Longer Than Gone).

The uplifting first single, Wont Look Back rouses with an anthemic chorus about not dwelling on your problems, whilst the beautiful aubade Contrails is an instant highlight. Other standouts include the glorious wall of sound in title track, Wildfire stemming from Julias own experience of overcoming a very real phobia of fire Its a personal and cathartic song, she admits. It allowed me to address my fears by writing about escaping and being free from them. And dont miss long-time live favourite Half Full which finally finds a home, after multiple attempts to record it in the past.

Written by siblings Matthew and Julia Lowe, the album was recorded partly in a Devonshire cottage, and partly in the living room of their long-suffering parents house in Kent. Largely produced by the band themselves, they also engaged the producing services of Joe Dickinson, Ben Jackson and Austen Jux-Chandler on several tracks. Joe in particular spent two weeks in the cottage with the band, helping to bring continuity across a collection of songs that were written in very different and distinct ways. Says Julia, Matts like some kind of genius when he writes; he can practically sneeze out a fully-formed song thats already complete with all the different instrumental lines, harmonies and melodies. When I write, I tend to start with just a seed of an idea, often coming from a raw emotional place that I then have to sculpt and hone over time.

Over the last few years, Keston Cobblers Club have been steadily building a name for themselves and winning over an army of loyal fans. Since forming in 2009, theyve played some of the UKs biggest festivals, sold out their own headline tours, and been invited to perform live on BBC Radio by the likes of Dermot OLeary, Steve Lamacq and Bob Harris. Theyve provided the music for advertising campaigns for Burberry and Mornflake, created all the music for stand-up Ross Nobles Sit Down Tour film, and can often be heard on TV shows from Hairy Bikers to Countryfile. Comedian and Radio 4 presenter Arthur Smith even incorporated a Cobblers song into his Edinburgh Fringe show.