All posts tagged I See Angels

I See Angels – Master of the Sky

10452962_660762824002201_3173171386399323119_o

I guess it irks me a little when I see those (now traditional) click-bait think pieces about the death or “stagnation of guitar music”. I mean, I appreciate the argument being made… the music industry does seem intent on championing the bland over the brave, but surely it’s up to us as music fans to dig a little deeper, to invest in the bands we love?

Living in Manchester, it’s hard to argue against a city that has produced MONEY, Everything Everything, PINS, Kult Country, Dutch Uncles, WU LYF… and that’s not even acknowledging our deep and rich history, or the wider underground scene as it is today. It would be pretty easy to critique each band individually, but what isn’t debatable is that guitar music is well and truly alive here, from the bedsits of Whalley Range to the bunkers of Salford.

I See Angels are one of my more recent Mancunian loves, having been transfixed by last year’s ‘Artificial Sunshine’ EP. Songwriter Paul Baird is clearly growing in confidence, capturing his hopes and fears so beautifully in each and every delicate strum. New track ‘Master Of The Sky’ glistens effortlessly in emotion. Baird’s vocals sound like a trembling Thom Yorke trying to find his way out of a dream… an almost disparate loneliness trapped inside a magical and cinematic landscape.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/191087719″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Phill Young

I See Angels – Wide Open

tumblr_n6rhzsoHoo1qgiw5to1_1280

Vaccums and Cohorts by Farah Willem

For every MONEY and PINS; bands that have been deservedly hyped and elevated from Manchester’s music scene.. there are hundreds more artists here still waiting to be discovered.
I See Angels are the kind of band people need to start waking up to, having already self-released two albums of great promise in ‘I See Angels (2011) and ‘Your Memories Are You’ (2013). Both albums contain a handful of gems… Embryo, After The Rain, Accelerated Love… these are songs you could easily become obsessive about. It feels like they’ve been learning their craft organically… content to slowly seep into people’s consciousness, rather than bang on any doors. Atoms (Breakdown) is a lost Manchester classic… it’s that special, revealing more emotion within it than most artists could ever hope to find.

Taken from the forthcoming ‘Artificial Sunshine’ EP, Wide Open is their finest composition so far, beautifully woven dream-pop with Radiohead-esque ambitions. Paul Baird’s broken-hearted vocals holding the track together before it drifts away into the distance like it never existed.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/155393997″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

https://www.facebook.com/ISEEANGELS
iseeangels.bandcamp.com

Phill Young