Based on the first few bars of organ you’d be forgiven for confusing this track with Metronomy’s The Look, but once the guitar slides into the beat it becomes clear that this is a rather fine single all by itself. The title From Nowhere is aptly chosen as Dan Croll, the mastermind behind this sterling piece of work, appears to have sprung up ‘from nowhere’ fully formed. Armed only with a 7″, an infectiously jolly video, and a great eye for visual design, he’s beating a strong and steady path toward not inconsiderable success. There is another weapon in his arsenal, of course, and that’s a corker of a debut single.
From Nowhere had me hooked as soon as the guitar line kicked in, and didn’t let up until it was finished. The spring reverb and jaunty backbeat might mark the track out as a potential summer favourite, but it still doesn’t feel out of place now the nights are drawing in.
Aside from this 7″, there’s not much known about Mr Croll. He’s from Liverpool and popped up on the Communion Records compilation, New Faces, back in April with a track called Marion; it’s a nice enough tune, but it’s definitely From Nowhere that’s his masterpiece. If this song isn’t a hit on the scale of Grizzly Bear’s Two Weeks then the world is a deeply unfair place: go and buy it straight away.
Another corker of a track from a band I’d never heard of until they landed in my inbox. This is the sort of song I always wanted to be able to write when I was in school. I was never this good, and I’m too old now to get away with this kind of thing, but I can still enjoy the energy and delivery that The 1975 inject into the whirling dervish of a single that is Sex.
The track stands up well enough on its own, but there’s something to be gained from watching the video – the singer has given himself the most ridiculous rock-star haircut. Now, I know this doesn’t have anything to do with the music, and I’m guessing you don’t visit these pages for my Grazia-esque fashion insights, but is pertinent to the music, I assure you. If nothing else, it shows that this guy is committed to being a rock star; to have the nerve to do that to himself proves that the band is front-and-centre in his ambitions. And that’s an essential part of this music; utter commitment, manic youthful energy.
Anyway, haircuts aside, this song is fantastic, and an exploration of their soundcloud page won’t go unrewarded either. The record is released by Vagrant on the 20th November, and is available for pre-order through iTunes (although there’s no sign of any physical release yet, which is a shame).
This is one of my favourite singles of the year so far:
Simple, evocative, powerful; trading under the nom de guerre Monument Valley, Mancunian Ned Younger certainly knows how to turn a phrase that’s sure to draw me in. The sparse guitars and delicate atmospherics set a mood that’s at once malevolent yet somehow tender, and the booming, ghostly piano thumps in the chorus – so simple they’re hardly there – ground the lyrics so thoroughly that the track instantly feels like something important. Like all the best pop songs, the lyrics to Your Cover Blown sound both disarmingly specific and impossibly ambiguous all at the same time. In the months since this track was released I’ve listened to it countless times, and I’ve still no idea what it’s actually about, but every listen paints a picture that stays with me long after the song’s finished.
When it comes to the B-side, in contrast, there’s no mistaking what it’s about. Younger’s oblique, occasionally witty lyrical approach manages to breathe fresh life into the classic breakup song trope, and the end result is a track that’s almost as bewitching as the A-side. The single came out on Everybody’s Stalking back in May, and although I came late to the party and didn’t order my copy until mid summer, Your Cover Blown is easily my most-played 7″ of 2012 (so far, at least).
Eaten by Monsters 