Cast your mind back. To February 2019 to be exact. For it was at that time I introduced a new band from the Brighton area called Winter Gardens with their debut single Coral Bells; a mix of dreamy indie and punkish sounds that rattled with energy. It showed promise.
My crystal ball was working well that day because in a moment of spot-on fortune telling I suggested that lead singer Ananda had just a hint of Liz Fraser from the Cocteau Twins about her vocals - they have subsequently covered a Cocteau’s track - and that whilst there was a lot of energy in the music I could easily imagine Ananda’s voice coating itself over something a little slower and softer.
Now after a somewhat lengthy gap Winter Gardens has finally readied their debut EP and the lead single from it, Tapestry, released yesterday, is a treat. It does exactly what I imagined in that introducing piece.
For at the start Ananda’s voice is given space to breathe, her voice a giddying and bewitching sound designed to make even the burliest of builders weak at the knees. The tempo is unhurried, the band seemingly realising that there Is no rush to reach heaven. There’s no chorus as such; the whole thing is constructed as one beautiful repeated nursery rhyme, so it doesn’t need it. What’s possibly even more striking though is the sheer power of the song, for when the explosions come, and believe me they do come, you are lost, deliriously lost, in a rich landscape of sound. Ananda’s voice battles to be heard and whilst this could be perceived as a tragedy, that melody, repeated again is already lodged in your brain. It doesn't need to be front and centre any more.
Gorgeous.
You can pre-order the debut Winter Gardens EP by clicking here.
Winter Gardens - Tapestry
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