If you listen to one album today make sure it’s Matters by Fröst. A hypnotic, pulsing record of motorik beats, analogue synths and icily cool reserved vocals delivered by Johanna Bramli, Matters veers between sophisticated art-pop songs to darker atmospheric pieces that could even claim some reference to horror movie soundtracks (Suspiria and The Exorcist come to mind). From the album comes new single La Venus d'Argent which gives a nod (albeit possibly unintentionally) to similarly titled La Femme D'Argent by French popsters Air in the way it uses a lightweight beat at the start, the sort of thing you might find as a preset on keyboard. Is French-ghost pop a genre? Then if not Fröst might have just invented it. Haunted vocals, chilling repeated synth riffs and an aloof sultriness that can only the French language can produce (see also Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg, Brigitte Bardot and Francoise Hardy). What more could you want? Except perhaps a whole album of the stuff, which now you can. Fröst play a handful of dates this month including my home city / my own festival at Portsmouth’s Dials. One street, five venues. Tickets are £16 (they will be more on the day so buy in advance). All the details including the timetable can be found here: Dials Festival Website. Fröst - La Venus d'Argent (Video)
Here is my third and final preview / tips post for Dials Festival 2018. A 5 venue wristband access event on Albert Road in Southsea, Portsmouth that I am helping organise in support of Solent Mind. Having waffled on about how I became involved in the festival, the philosophy that underpins this year’s event and some of my thinking about the booking of the festival I feel that it’s time to sit back and just write about the artists a little more. This is a relatively waffle free post! So here are 3 tips for artists nearer the top end of the bill that I think are worth your attention. This has been a particularly hard selection – as I haven’t space to mention the beautiful mellow pop of Art School Girlfriend that reminds me a little bit of Massive Attack and Portishead or the fiery Estrons who played Dials in 2016 in the Edge of the Wedge and return to blast the mighty Wedgewood Rooms with their visceral sound. But as in previous posts I’m limiting my choices to three. All have featured in past blog posts. 19:30-20:00 Bokito – The Vaults Bokito is named after a gorilla that escaped from its cage at a zoo and that is exactly what this band are like. When lead singer Moses gets on stage he unleashes his inner caged animal. But it’s not a rock beast. No, it’s a hip swinging, falsetto crooning, crouching tiger of a man who dances like a African tribesperson. Imagine Everything Everything with a big heap of sunshine tossed into the music - and lots of confetti in this video for current single How Dare You.
20:30-21:00 Fröst – Edge of the Wedge With a debut album Matters coming out next week we’ll get the full picture of what Fröst sound like, but from their transcendent singles such as Record Still Spinning and Black Mountain, which have found love from this blog and Lauren Laverne of BBC 6 Music, they can be described as having a sound full of retro analogue synths, pulsing electronics and motorik beats. Featuring a member of Fujiya and Miyagi and a French-Swedish sound artist, fans of Goldfrapp or Broadcast might be particularly smitten with Fröst. Dials is pleased to present them as one of just four shows they’re playing this October. The video below is a live recording of Record Still Spinning.
21:00-21:30 Grace Savage – The Loft Another one of the curve balls I mentioned yesterday, Grace Savage is a beatboxer of extraordinary skill. Having seen her perform twice, once at Winchestival and the other time in the surreal setting of a roller-skating disco in Margate I can confirm that Grace will astound you. “She can’t be doing that just with her mouth and a loop station,” you’ll possibly cry. Oh yes she is. It’s why she’s four times UK beatboxing champion. If you want to see something different that you’ll probably remember for a long time after Dials 2018 finishes, Grace Savage is the one. No video can do her justice - you have to see it live.
You can find the full timetable for Dials by clicking here. You can buy tickets for £16 plus a small booking fee from this link or direct from the Wedgewood Rooms box office where there is no fee. Tickets will be more expensive on the day so I advise to buy them now. To prepare fully for Dials there's a playlist on Spotify featuring all the artists you can get by clicking here or just search for Dials Festival 2018.
Besides writing Breaking More Waves and going to plenty of gigs and festivals, another project I’m involved in and hugely excited about is Dials Festival. An intimate, fully independent new music festival that takes place in 5 venues on Albert Road in Southsea, Portsmouth, this will be our 3rd event, having previously put on shows in 2015 and 2016 which featured the likes of Dream Wife, Black Honey, Fickle Friends, Alice Jemima and Fear of Men. The ethos of our festival is very much D-I-Y. The team behind it are all volunteers and any profits that we make from the festival will be given to charity, namely a local Mental Health charity called Solent Mind. You can find out more about the good work they do by clicking here. This year some of the acts that are playing at Dials include Welsh indie darlings Estrons, cool mellow pop artist Art School Girlfriend, four times UK beat boxing champion Grace Savage, indie punk band Yassassin, rising Isle of Wight star Lauren Hibberd, Bella Union's Penelope Isles, 6 music favourites Breathe Panel, dance pop specialist Salt Ashes, psych rockers Melt Dunes, brand new weird noisepop makers LibraLibra, Portsmouth's own indie starlet Jerry Williams playing a solo acoustic set and our headliners Tigercub, plus a whole host of others. You can buy tickets, find out more about the event and support a local charity by clicking this link (here). Why not come and enjoy a day out in Portsmouth? All the venues are situated on 1 street (Albert Road), with the two venues that are furthest from each other being only five minutes apart. There are also plenty of cafes, restaurants and unusual shops to browse in as well. I’ve booked approximately 40% of the artists playing the festival and many of them have featured on Breaking More Waves. One act I’ve chosen for Dials is Brighton’s Fröst, who I asked to play after hearing just one of their songs. Sometimes you just have to rely on instinct when booking stuff, hoping that others will connect as well, and I had fallen in love with Record Still Spinning instantly. It has been on almost constant repeat ever since. Since booking the band it’s been great to hear them being supported by Lauren Laverne on BBC 6 Music who is also clearly a fan; she’s played Record Still Spinning a number of times on the station and has included another track called Venus d’Argent, from the band’s forthcoming album Matters, on her Recommends show. After throwing names like Broadcast, Electrelane and Stereolab into the ring to give some comparisons for Record Still Spinning, let’s lob another one in for Fröst’s new single. For Black Mountain has that same sort of pulsing electronica and subtle throb that can be found on some of Goldfrapp’s work. Inspired by the experimental college in North Carolina founded in 1933 which emphasised holistic learning and the study of art as a core part of its programme, Black Mountain coils around with an ominous pop moodiness, always holding back, never quite exploding, and is all the better for it. It makes me even more excited for the band to be playing Dials. Black Mountain is out now. Matters is released on 28th September and Fröst play the Sebright Arms in London on 2nd October, Brighton’s Prince Albert on 3rd October, before hitting Portsmouth’s Dials Festival on the 6th October. Fröst - Black Mountain
Imagine, if you will, pop purveyors Saint Etienne getting in a studio with Anglo-French band Stereolab. The end result, Record Still Spinning, could well be the result. Although in this case the song was created by by Brighton’s Fröst. It's a gorgeous piece full of propulsive, motorik beats combined with the lovely languid vocals of Johanna Bramli and it comes from the same place as another Brighton band of old; Electrelane. There's even a hint of the wonderful Broadcast in there as well. Basically it's pretty special. Record Still Spinning is one of those odd songs that whilst sounding slightly downbeat and introspective still manages to produce a feeling of joy and hazy delirium. There’s lots of superlatives I could throw at this one, but let’s just go with the fact that this is a sublime, dreamy, enchanting, ghostly piece of art pop that you can totally lose yourself in. Record Still Spinning is taken from Fröst’s debut album Matters which is due for release later this year. Fröst is the aforementioned Bramli and Steve Lewis, who also plays with Fujiya & Miyagi and the band have already been picked up by the likes of Annie Mac (BBC Radio 1), Nemone, Gideon Coe and Lauren Laverne (BBC 6 Music) and John Kennedy (Radio X). Fröst - Record Still Spinning
