Do you miss WU LYF? Can’t seem to get enough of Foals? Well, here I present to you the love child of your favourite bands: Blaenavon.
Following a promising debut single ‘Into the Night’ earlier this year, the trio, Ben Gregory, Frank Wright, and Harris McMillan, just dropped their new four-track EP ‘Koso’ (named after their manager) last week. Cleverly swapping between finger-picking sequence and searing, overdriven guitars, Koso builds up nicely from the snappy guitar-lines and big chorus in ‘Wunderkind’ to the spacious sounds of ‘Gods’. Reaching its peak with ‘Prague’s sparkling cymbals and Ben’s impassioned melancholic vocals, the constant emotional presence, including the last track ‘Lost in Paris’, closes Koso nicely with a solid seal of approval.
The EP is tightly coiled and accessible with its friendly yet stirring sounds fused with the touch from the likes of Wild Beasts. Odd name aside, this ‘Koso’ EP undoubtedly holds big promises for Blaenavon in months to come.
Oh, did I forget to mention that they just turned 17 years old? Don’t worry. On the first listen, I too thought this was a band who finally made a breakthrough after years of hard labour. These boys have already released a single and an EP with their tour coming up at the same age when our greatest achievement was passing that awful exam paper during Sixth form. Yeah, my self-esteem just went down the drain.
By Jaisai Wongpichet
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