Recently, we reached out to Brooklyn indie label Ba Da Bing Records, inquiring about the new album from South Portland, Maine's Big Blood. The record - First Aid Kit - subsequently became our Record Of The Month in August and it's been very favourably received by all our club members. While chatting to the label's head honcho, Ben Goldberg, he casually asked if we were fans of English-via-NZ pop-noir outfit, The Veils. With a resounding YES, we agreed to take a stack of their albums to hopefully expose more Australians to this remarkable outfit.
More a project for Finn Andrews than a traditional band per se, The Veils have enjoyed much critical success of the years, being lauded for their baroque arrangements and rich production. Andrews is the son of XTC's Barry Andrews, but as Pitchfork noted, the project "sounds more like the Bad Seeds or the Gun Club than his father's group." David Lynch featured their music in his 2017 season of Twin Peaks, a damn fine example of what their music is perfect for.
It’s been seven strange years since The Veils’ last studio album, and Andrews returned in March with a new double LP to show for it ...And Out Of The Void Came Love. From any other artist, this title might be considered bombastic, from Andrews it's the norm. Its sheer beauty and poignancy and ability to effortlessly move the listener to tears should be no surprise. Its chamber pop leanings take in cinematic indie rock, delicate folk and even a dash of Americana-drenced tunes and breathe out a masterpiece, a highly rewarding cinematic journey highlight love, loss, fatherhood, destiny and the always-bewildering perplexities of human existance. It's the the result this tumultuous period of injury (Andrews broke his wrist and couldn't play) , isolation, and new life…
"... delivers this sermon on the mount like the bastard son of Scott Walker and Jerry Lee Lewis over a wall of soaring guitars, pianos and strings."
“Refreshingly passionate… Andrews rages with a Herculean intensity.”
The Guardian
“Horse-whipped, lightning-crash clamor… magnetic.”
Pitchfork
“One of the finest songwriters of his generation.”
Drowned in Sound
We also have the limited reissue of the much-lauded second album from 2007, Nux Vomica. The fan favourite is already a favourite of ours, but new this version contains the never-heard original mixes by Nick Launay (The Birthday Party, PiL). It was mixed and mastered from the original 2" tapes at Abbey Road and has new artwork and is limited to 1200 copies worldwide.
"... arch dramatists in the tradition of Dog Man Star-era Suede, post-Richey Manics and post-fame Pulp-- hearts firmly on sleeves, but with the spilled blood all cleaned up."
- Pitchfork
What an honour and a privilege it is to be handling these two albums for Australia, they both come HIGHLY recommended from our personal ears - there's no time like right now to embrace this once-in-a-generation outfit.