Today we introduce a band that come from the cold and wet North-West of England, but on their debut offering they purvey warm sonic soundscapes to chase the clouds away. Calling Me by Aquilo is a slow motion gentle wonder of restraint, yet it still manages to convey a sense of scale. It’s a difficult balance to achieve in these days of bedroom laptop production where (just because you can) the temptation to paint another layer onto the musical canvas to make it even bigger lurks in every corner. Thankfully Aquilo hold things back in the same way that James Blake or Mount Kimbie do, allowing the core of the song to shine through.
Having each originally fronted local guitar based bands (dig around a little on the internet and you’ll be able to find out which ones), Tom Higham and Ben Fletcher (pictured above) first got together in Summer 2012 with a mutual interest in production techniques to start to create their own brand of electronic pop. They were then followed by Fin Kay Lavelle and Lucas Button to complete the line-up as a four-piece.
If we’re talking musical Venn diagrams then we’d put Aquilo in the mellow set alongside The XX, Seasfire and London Grammar; for besides the late night silkiness that all these groups harness in their sound, they all use technology as a vehicle to deliver the melodies, harmonies and atmospheres that are the key to a great song. Did we mention chill-wave ? Oh, go on then, let's throw that one in as well, as we could imagine this sitting neatly alongside that Washed Out album from a while back. Calling Me opens Aquilo’s account, more is to follow soon.
Aquilo - Calling Me
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