High Violet Introduces A Wonderful Mixed Bag of Rock, Indie, Jazz/Blues

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Category: UK A&E, Lifestyle, Culture
Published on Friday, 28 April 2017 08:31
Written by Lynsey Finch

From the London music scene today comes Elevant with a new EP recorded at Abbey Road; Florence Joelle, Parisian Soul, Latin Jazz, think heat set to music, and Anilore, from East Village NYC punk jumped the pond earning rave reviews.

Elevant
Normal Life EP 
Loner Noise

Elevant are the thunderous genre absorbers heading the Loner Noise label. Since their formation in 2014 they've fused a host of disparate influences into a sound that can be dark and atmospheric, heavy and crushing or irresistibly grooving. The trio sounds far vaster than the sum of their parts. Anchored by Tom Shand's pummelling Bonham-esque beats and Hannah Lodge's interlocking bassline weaves, lead singer Michael Edward's lung bursting Chris Cornell-style lead vocals and bludgeoning guitar work make them sound like a six piece. 

After releasing three albums through their own label, the last of which "There is a Tide" was received with unanimous critical acclaim, Elevant are back with a new EP.

This new EP was recorded at Abbey Road by Sam Jones and mastered by Pete Maher (Jack Jones/Scissor Sisters/U2)
Taking the listener on a cerebral journey into the complexities of love, war, disillusion and displacement, the EP encompasses a wide range of influences; the grunge/post hardcore style of loud/quiet (Nirvana/Soundgarden/Fugazi), the looped drum grooves of trip hop and krautrock (Portishead/Can), the guitar textures of pyschedelia and shoegaze (My Bloody Valentine) and the jazzier chord styles of artists like Steely Dan and Prince.

Normal Life EP is released on 19/05/2017

Tour Dates:

01/04 - Thresholfd Festival, Liverpool - District with Hey Colossus + more
22/04 - Wrong Festival, Liverpool - Invisible Wind Factory with Bo Ningen, The Wytches, Part Chimp, Heck, Evil Blizzard + more
14/05 - The Jericho Tavern with Slate Hearts, Holy Moments
15/05 - London - The Black Heart with Alpha Maid, Mad King Ludwig & The Mojo Co.
22/06 - Chester Live Festival, Chester - The Live Rooms


https://elevantband.com/
https://elevant.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Elevantmusik/
https://www.instagram.com/elevantmusik/

   

Florence Joelle
One Step Forward EP 
Zoltan Records 
2 June 2017

Sassy, sensual and effortlessly cool, Joelle has created a musical subgenre all of her own. Its a Franco-Anglo polychromatic, potpourri of latin and classic jazz, vintage and contemporary blues, gypsy folk, 50's R&B rock n roll and Parisian torch song. 

Pull up a chair , pour yourself a glass of the good stuff and then press play.

From its opening notes and tender, nictoine whisky vocals, Florence Joelle's music will draw you into a world of exotic enchantment.

Opening with the dark and bluesy  'One Step Forward, Two Steps Back' with its harmonica intro and first class band, it's a slow, sweet, mirror balled late night gem about looking back and looking ahead.

'Sleepy Eyes' a calypso ode to movie idol Robert Mitchum, or the fiery hot 'Here Comes The Lady', is as light as champagne and as wild as absinthe and it'll keep you coming back for more.

Recorded straight to tape on analogue equipment and mixed in mono at Gizzard Recording Studios, her music exudes warmth and authenticity, capturing the spirit of classic jazz and blues recordings from long before the digital era.

Paris born Florence Joelle is a blues and jazz singer, songwirter, harmonica player and recording artist based in London, where she regularly performs in and around the city.


"The aural equivalent of absinthe laced with caffeine and nicotine, perhaps, Florence Joelle's husky tones combine the plaintive sensuality of Billie Holiday with the playful kittenish capriciousness of Eartha Kitt while managing to sound totally unique."  Mojo ****
 
"Her vocal delivery is an intimate conversation throughout, full of wit, pathos and mystery."  Record Collector ****
 
"More Rive Gauche loveliness from the London-based Parisian singer, songwriter and harmonica player, whose intensive gigging around our fair city has polished her sultry late night sound and turned her into a chanteuse to be reckoned with."  London Evening Standard ****

"Joelle's sensuous purred vocals and sprightly jazzy songs lend proceedings a contemporary edge while circumventing mere nostalgia."  The Independent****


www.florencejoelle.com
www.soundcloud.com/florencejoelle
www.reverbnation.com/florencejoelle

Anilore
Lull EP 
12 May 2017

Hailing from New York, Andy Cheng, Andrew Malenda and Michael Worsa met in the 90's and formed Anilore.
In 2006, the band released a remastered version of Still Awake, drawing on their influences from post punk and shoe gaze. In 2010, Cheng and Malenda began working in earnest on what would become their second album. The layered and atmospheric Dead Loves Grave was finally released in the summer of 2014.The album went on to be included on several shoegaze best of lists for 2014.


In 2015, drummer Shay Lynch joined as the band began to perform live again. In September 2015, the band contributed a cover of Ride Today for the compilation Leave Them All Behind - A Tribute to Ride released by Sao Paolo label The Blog That Celebrates Itself


Two years later, the band returns with the Lull EP. The EP features; six songs recorded on 4 track cassette between 2002 - 2005.Taken from a couple of tapes found while moving out of a practice space, the songs were treated with minimal overdubs and production. The resulting record is more spacious minimal, haunting, acoustic sound than its predecessors.


Echoing the cover for Dead Love Grave, Lull again features cover art by Anastasia Ugorskaya. The EP is available in a limited vinyl pressing 200 copies and as a digital download.
The band is currently working on a follow up to Dead Loves Grave