On their second single, the five-piece plunge into a more accessible chasm of their distinctively dusky sound.
Photo: Jonah Braverman | Words: Hazel Blacher
Whether it whirs you through drizzly countryside mist, or pitches you squinting through misted-up panes at some vague urban bustle, pencil's latest single 'The Window' evokes so vividly the feelings that these spaces conjure up; the all too familiar quiescence of those darker, colder days; lonesomeness thawed in the company of passing strangers; fleeting cognisance of beauty found even in life's bleakest corners. Shading out rich contours of brooding folk-tinged indie, the London-based newcomers live up to their namesake, seeping into the fringes of negative space with a sound as richly textured as crumbling graphite on crisp white paper. A new project helmed by Kamran Khan (also known for jangly dream-pop solo project Fake Laugh) and freshly signed to cult indie label Moshi Moshi, this latest release forms part of their relaunched coveted Singles Club series.
'The Window' is moored by the dusky pulses of Khan's acoustic guitar, each plush chord fanning forth over the yielding mimicry of Dom Potts' bassline and lullingly slack drums of Thomas Fiquet (of Swim Deep). Lyrically adrift on a trickling stream of consciousness, which was inspired by "an overheard conversation about the London suburb of Walthamstow", Khan weighs each word with notable earnestness, submerging such everyday exchanges into elusive depths.
Where pencil's debut 'The Giant' flayed out fluidly like the bronze limbs of a Giacometti sculpture, 'The Window' exists in the same exhibition but hangs on the wall, daubed in short strokes over canvas in moss and russet. Crucially, beside a shared autumnal nucleus, it is the virtuosic lilts of Coco Inman's violin that augment and cohere both of these tracks. Rendering atop each vivid compositional detail like a rotoscope, Inman's contributions are both plaintive and dulcet, which, combined with its overarchingly rich production, results in a track that is wholly engrossing and rather exceptional.
No comments:
Post a Comment