Today is Valentine's Day, so I think it's only appropriate that I post about a band I've fallen in love with. It's also appropriate that the band is giving away four new songs today, in honor of the holiday - but more on that later.
At the beginning of January, the boys over at BadmintonStamps featured a song called "Trains to Brazil" in their Friday Freakout, a weekly feature that offers a ridiculously great track I've usually never heard (or really paid attention to) before. This particular post caught my attention because it talked about penguins (I heart them), but then it described a band "like Shout Out Louds with more thump and swing, or Arcade Fire with Anglo sensibilities." Hmmm. I clicked the track, turned it up, and although it took a minute to adjust to the distinct style, I fell in love with "Trains to Brazil", and with the band that performs it - Guillemots.
I know I use the L-word pretty frequently when describing music, but something about this band has sounded just about perfect to me for the past month or so. I think the first time I played "Trains to Brazil" on my radio show, I described it as perfect movie music - emotional, engaging, well-suited for the climactic scene where the ridiculously exciting thing you've been waiting for finally happens. I've spent my entire 20+ minute drive to work listening to the track on repeat, and it never seems to get old. The best part is that every additional song I've heard since carries the same beauty, intensity, and emotion - while fitting into some strange place between pop, jazz, and indie rock. It sounds so unbelievably lame, but I feel like their songs make me smile and break my heart at the same time. I think most of that feeling comes from lead singer Fyfe Dangerfield's amazing voice.
According to BadmintonStamps, HMV has listed a tentative May 1st UK release date for Guillemot's still-untitled debut album (they have been blogging about recording on their myspace page). The London-based four-piece is comprised of Fyfe Dangerfield (vocals, songwriting), MC Lord Magrao (guitar), Rican Caol (drums), and Aristazabal Hawkes (double bass), and has been signed to Polydor Records, although they have released both an EP, I Saw Such Things In My Sleep, and the Trains to Brazil single on Fantastic Plastic in the UK. And with the band coming to the US in March for SXSW, hopefully we'll be hearing a lot more from them soon.
So with today being Valentine's Day, Guillemots has decided to offer four brand-new tracks "in celebration of the fact that some of you (at least one member of Guillemots included - aaaah!) may not have much to do." Head here to download "Bad Boyfriend", "By the Water", "Rising Tide" and "She's Evil" - unfortunately you have to register and all four tracks are in WMA format (although the band aknowledges what a pain in the ass that is, and apologizes). The songs are available for download until the end of the month, so go get them now. Each member of the band took the lead on a track, which resulted in a fairly diverse set of songs. You can head here to read a little more background.
And in the meantime, meet your mp3 needs with these:
"Trains to Brazil"
"Made Up Love Song #43"
"Cats Eyes"
"Cold Cool Moon" (demo)
"Sea Out" (demo)
"Through the Windowpane" (xfm session)
"If the World Ends" (xfm session)
Watch the excellent, excellent video (in Windows) for "Trains to Brazil"
Watch the video (in flash) for "Made Up Love Song #43"
Yesterday, BadmintonStamps also posted their new single, "We're Here", so go check that out, and just this morning they also posted a b-side, "My Chosen One."
