All posts tagged Ménage à Trois

Ménage à Trois – Pride

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Photo by Dan Heron

In my humble opinion, Ménage à Trois are one of the most fascinating and beautiful acts currently in development here in Manchester. It’s been a whole year now since our three sisters first emerged with their glorious cover of ‘Islands In The Stream’ and I keep waiting for the rest of the world to truly wake up. It’s no underestimation to say I’ve already listened to first full-length release Pride nearly 50 times in the last couple of days… opener ‘Ocean Breeze’ is a brooding affair built around the sentiment “I can make you fall in love… if I wanted”, and I can’t see that being anything other than true. ‘Conditional Love’ sees them head into Ariel Pink territory, a seductive instrumental that swoons it’s way towards
‘Crazy. Sexy. Cruel’, a deliberately yearning slow jam that showcases Jonathan Flanders lush vocals. ‘Car Song’ and ‘Argentina’ both see the synth take over proceedings, we’re talking pure and unashamed 80’s vibe with a cinematic and orchestral quality, almost Vangelis at times. It’s fair to say that as a collection of work, ‘Pride’ fits perfectly together… there is no clear stand-out single in the way they out funked Daft Punk on ‘White Noise’ but it’s all the better for being this way… musically, visually and artistically, The Bogans of Life just have ‘it’.

Download/Buy ‘Pride’ on limited edition cassette here: https://menage-a-trois.bandcamp.com/album/pride

https://www.facebook.com/threesistersinlove

Dream Lovers – Go, Gauguin, Go

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It’s getting pretty hard to keep track of post-LYF endeavours. Tom McClung is carving out a solo career as Francis Lung. Joe Manning has been breaking hearts as part of alt-pop venture Ménage à Trois, teased us with the mysterious Rainbow Torches… and now unveils latest project Dream Lovers with Evans Kati. Keeping up? Don’t forget McClung, Manning and Kati formed nu-disco group Los Porcos with FAMY too. Ellery James Roberts for the time being remains silent, his only statement being the beautiful and grandiose ‘Kerou’s Lament’, leaving us wanting more.

It’s certainly remarkable how all four former WU LYF members are creatively pushing themselves to new heights. Dream Lovers début composition Go, Gauguin, Go is yet another example of just how talented they are… a swaying, instrumental jam that takes you to another place, crossing a melancholy ocean into a dream.

Buy Go, Gauguin, Go on Limited Edition Cassette, released via Ocean Records here: https://oceanrecords.bandcamp.com/album/ocean-viii-go-gauguin-go

Phill Young

Ménage à Trois – Cowboy

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Tru Luv seems to have been the only new music blog not to spend the majority of December making lists and predictions. To be honest, we’ve hardly written anything at all during the festive period, instead spending it considering our approach for 2014… which will be revealed in the near future. One thing we will continue to do is to avoid writing about industry hype artists (hype that can only be creating by a huge marketing budget). I want Tru Luv to have a distinct and unique voice, and the only way to do this is to provide content that is largely undiscovered.

Manchester’s Ménage à Trois are still largely undiscovered, but if they keep dropping tracks like Cowboy (taken from last years The Bogans Of Death mixtape) it’s only a matter of time before people start paying attention. Cowboy is a brooding, intense affair… with gorgeous longing vocals, reaching for heights they never quite find. The video which features a man, smoking his cigarette, watching New Year’s fireworks is a beautiful and stunning accompaniment, adding much to the tenderness of the song.

https://www.facebook.com/threesistersinlove

Phill Young

Ménage à Trois – White Noise

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I’ve been meaning to write about Manchester’s Ménage à Trois for a while, but the stunning video for new track White Noise has finally given me the kick up the backside I needed. Consisting of vocalist Jonathan Flanders, Craig Langton and Wu Lyf’s Joseph Manning, they’ve managed to create a sound that is both playful and heartbreaking.

White Noise demonstrates an ability to surprise too, with its Daft Punk’esque electronica, especially since the last track they released was a cover of UB40, which truly showcased Jonathan’s Hutchcraftian vocals to their full devastating effect. Treasure this band, because its not often these days that great pop music arises from a non-manufactured place. Me? I’m declaring my love now.

Ménage à Trois – Don’t Break My Heart (UB40 cover Live)

Buy limited edition mixtape ‘Bogans Of Death’ at this link:

http://menage-a-trois.bandcamp.com/album/the-bogans-of-death

Phill Young