The Sour Seeds EP - Vol 1.
- Written by Marky Edison
We’ve talked about The Sour Seeds before and we’ve talked to them as well but this is practically a new band so it’s fitting that they have chosen to name their latest EP Vol. 1. With former members of the band off playing as The New 52, guitarist Seany Lay has rebuilt the band and reinvented their sound.
New singer Niamh O’Raw is the focal point of the new tunes and the loungey, jazz-funk feel of the songs complements her soulful tones. They have retained the saxophone as a core instrument, with Dan McPartlin now working the reed. There are shades of hip hop, Warp Records, trip hop and even The Brand New Heavies about this record. Lay & Co. have once again enlisted Brandon O’Rourke for the cover art. His immediately identifiable neo-psychedelic work is lush and vibrant; it leaves an indelible imprint on your brain and colours the music within.
‘Wherever You Run’ opens with a sample of an old Public Service Announcement and O’Raw croons smoothly over an Edwyn Collins style guitar. ‘The Strain’ has a ‘90s chill vibe a la Nightmares On Wax. ‘High’ is the lead single. It’s a slow build and takes a full minute to get going but it turns into a disco version of Ham Sandwich when the pair of intertwining vocal lines appear over a Nile Rodgers guitar track.
The production is cheap and cheerful. These tunes could really fly in a Basement Jaxx sort of way with a bigger budget recording but the vibes are all present and correct. Vol. 1 is short and sweet: a calling card for a band resurrecting itself. On this evidence, future Sour Seeds gigs will be some kind of hip, shiny, robotic disco, so we’ll be looking forward to that.