Adelaide’s Cape

The year 2010 is going to be a big one for Adelaide’s Cape. A debut EP will find it’s way into anyone who is anyone’s record collection, they’ll be hitting the continent on a mini tour and generally bothering your mind by getting you addicted to their music.

The stage is well and truly set for them; their sail is up and they’re about to ride the wave of the folk revival so recently (re)set in motion by the likes of Noah And The Whale, Fionn Regan and Mumford And Sons. Originally hailing from the up and coming Norwich music scene, the two-piece are moving on to conquer the Bristol music scene, taking their organic, lo-fi folk with them. It’s as delicate as it is intimate and after bolstering their sound at the fleeting demo recording session with bassists, violinists and keyboardists, their foundations are set for greatness.

The Scottish tinge in vocalist Sam Taylor instantly draws comparisons to Frightened Rabbit singer Scott Hutchinson’s fractured, torn musings – just not as blue. He seems to be constantly baring all in his wordings, wrapping the listener up in his world. When you listen to his words and his music, you soon enough find yourself in a place you never really want to leave.

The pensive Harbour will captivate you by it’s sparse lo-fi feel, sounding as much Frightened Rabbit as you could possibly hope for. The intricate, picked acoustic guitar part soundtracks his murmured lines, beautifully emotive and absolutely meant: “The tilt of your hand/The choice of your words/The gall of your heart that bleeds.” The layered guitars develop alongside the charmingly skewed harmonies, and it endears itself to you with every single listen. And this is just a very, very rough demo – imagine what the pro recordings will sound like.

The equally rough Stay will have you swaying into your pint at any one of their upcoming Bristol and London shows, and no-one will be able to resist joining in on the “La-La-La-La” sections that make this song so very addictive.

Hannah Richardson is the other, equally important, element of Adelaide’s Cape, adding the rickety drums and general percussion that gently nudges things along.  She can also do what every folk band needs – add some gorgeous female harmonies, that is – every so often. That’s not to say Adelaide’s Cape predictable, of course, far from it in fact. And with the duo wanting to experiment with more instruments and musicians over the course of the next year, expect things to grow and grow.

In the run up to Christmas, Adelaide’s Cape play their first shows in Bristol and Bath, as well as a selection of gigs on the lucrative London folk circuit. A Norwich Arts Centre gig sees them return in the New Year to a venue they’ve already sold out once in 2009; a feat many struggle to do, I hasten to add. This, along with the open-armed receptions so many other artists of this style have received over the last two years of folk revival, seems evidence that Adelaide’s Cape are going to be on repeat in your stereo, on your local stage with a sold outaudience, and blissfully stuck in your head soon enough.

Here’s their cover of Mumford and Sons – The Cave