Slicker than your average

Something abit outside of the usual now.

So last night was the launch of the Seven Years On Ep 'Starting Fires' with The Julia Set and Matt Kilford supporting, and what a night it was.

It being the first time i've seen the julia set live I didn't quite know what to expect, but they offer up something thats almost indescribable, its an amalgamation of everything you've ever heard, from jazz to folk to rock. But it does work, lead singer and guitarist Emily Sykes has a cutesy way about her, only amplified by the fact she's surrounded by burly men with instruments. She does have a lovely voice, and is clearly the ringleader in this musical outlet. However, as their headline would tell you 'this ain't no dainty world' Just watching them play its obvious the band has been doing this a long time, they're polished, very tight and seem to know what they're doing!
which makes it more sad that I'm told last night was the last ever Julia Set gig, if so, a great shame. For that one night I saw them they were a watchable entertaining decent band. And the loss of one of those can never be a good thing.


Next up on the bill was the ever enchanting Matt Kilford, someone who's music I've been a massive fan of for a long time. To describe Matt Kilford, I don't think you can. I went to this gig with a friend of mine who's really into her drum and bass and techno, in describing Matt Kilford I simply said 'he's sad, but amazing' and by the end of 'Hindsight' with tears in her eyes she was rushing off to buy his newly released EP 'House on the Hill' agreeing with me. Need I say more? Matt Kilford is one of those people that could stand up on stage, whistle the clangers theme tune and still be brilliant. A natural talent. The ssshing that started at the Swindon Shuffle in August has followed him on and i'm nothing short of glad, listening to Matt Kilford creates an atmosphere like nothing else I know, and I thoroughly agree he should be enjoyed in total silence. Matt has been playing with some fellow musicians, Dave Durban, Sam Bates and Lex Wood for a while now, but have suddenly really turned it up a notch, its evident some serious practice has taken place, his newly introduced harmonies with Sam Bates on keys are lovely and really work well. After drinking far too much cider I regret to announce I failed to pick up his new EP 'House on the Hil' also released yesterday, but I've heard the tracks a million times before and all are nothing short of bliss, so will be ordering a copy shortly, as should you.

And Finally, the reason we were all there; Seven Years On.
I still hear to this day about how brilliant they were at the Swindon Shuffle 2007, and I can, to an extent, see why. A bunch of lovely guys, making music they love and actually doing it well, is a pretty rare thing. But I get the feeling this band is one thats really spurred on by a good audience, and as good as we were, there just wasn't enough of us to bring out the best of these guys i'm sorry to say. But still, they were superb, you can hear the influences of each member and they manage to come together nicely, and not only the playing is good, the songwriting is pretty high class too. And listening to the EP this morning is reminding me so. A really intriguing band who I hope to see much more of, The EP makes for easy listening.

So all in all, Hangover worth it.
And as a sidenote, I missed the raffle draw. 735 win any prizes?!

www.myspace.com/sevenyearson

www.myspace.com/thejuliaset

www.matthewkilford.co.uk