Interesting Alt-Rock
The debut mini-album from alt-rock singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Francis Neve draws on his influences from Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mogwai and the Cinematic Orchestra amongst others, Francis' sound is more melodic and the songs shorter and more direct than those influences may suggest however, often dreamy backing is grounded by his straightforward, but solid vocal delivery (sounding a touch like Chris Martin on occasion).
The sound on the record is pretty lo-fi, with nice open production but he also manages to bring a sweeping epic feel to the tracks and sometimes injects heavier moments like on the closer 'You Must Be Somewhere' on which has a touch of Calexico style Americana right at the start, then moves through dreamy keys and guitar echoes to culminate in a wave of heavier guitars and drums in the last minute.
The mini-album opens with 'Brian's Drying Up', a stop-start feel to the drums, the vocal melodies drift and flow nicely, the guitars echo, 'Come Near' has heavier bass and nice chiming guitars and one of the catchiest melodies on the record; later on, a duet with Lucy Randell on 'Winterbury' is vocally sweet and musically quite down-beat but keyboard swirls keep things moving.
A good diversity of style and instrumentation helps keep this record fresh and even though the atmosphere is mostly down-beat it never feels overwhelmingly moody.