“The most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard,” states one comment on the Soundcloud player for Family Tree, the lead track on Meadowlark’s debut EP Three Six Five. High praise, and whilst we wouldn’t go quite that far ourselves, there’s no doubt that this is a bit of a diamond, now fully fleshed out from the earlier demo version the band first released about a year ago. Previously Family Tree was pretty but a little bare yet now accompanied by an opulent string backing it blossoms into something exquisite and lush as it plays through.
It seems that creating tunes that expand into something quite moving is one of Meadowlark’s talents. We noted this of I’ve Got You, another of their earlier works that we streamed back in November 2013 that it built up ‘some head of steam’ and now they’re doing it again. An absorbing pop ballad that we've been playing over and over. The Three Six Five EP is released on 26th May.
Meadowlark - Family Tree
“Is this the new single from Gabrielle Aplin?” someone asked us the first time we played Meadowlark’s I’ve Got You to them; it’s easy to understand why. With a similar acoustic tone and easy on the ear female vocal Aplin is no doubt a comparison. To add confusion, on the day this post is published Meadowlark will be out on tour with Miss Aplin, tonight in Leeds, before they continue through to Cardiff, Bournemouth, London, Nottingham and Oxford.
Meadowlark are Kate McGill, Carl Jones and Daniel Broadley. You might recognise the name of McGill, who after dropping out of her second year studying theatre and performance in Plymouth to pursue her music found You Tube fame with a series of cover versions of songs by artists such as Adele and The Killers - it gradually brought her huge numbers of subscribers (again a similarity to Aplin). From there her own material followed and a debut album Replaced was released following a deal with One Click. Then to the dismay of some of her fans in November 2012 McGill released her last ever You Tube video explaining that she didn’t want to be known for just doing covers on You Tube and would be doing something new, working with other people. The result is Meadowlark.
Take a listen to her new project below – McGill’s voice has a certain pretty purity to it which we’re absolute suckers for at Breaking More Waves and the peaches and cream acoustic pop her band creates is instantly likeable, particularly on the aforementioned I’ve Got You which builds up some head of steam by the end complete with rousing repeated chorus. Breaking More Waves will soon be publishing it's Ones To Watch for 2014 list (starting on the 18th November) - Meadowlark could be ripe for inclusion perhaps?
Meadowlark - I've Got You
Meadowlark - Forlorn (Corridor Session Video)
