The Veils: Band of the Week
OK… The Veils is not a new band, but I finally had a chance to explore more of their songs and albums lately. I think I first heard them on Spotify a long time ago… The Leavers Dance, I think… dug the song and their music, but didn’t get the chance to listen to more for some strange reason. It happens.
Now I’ve iTune-downloaded all The Veils main albums: The Runaway Found, Nux Vomica, Sun Gangs, & Troubles of the Brain and keep finding myself saying out loud while listening “I love this band”.
AND they’re working on a new album. Recorded in LA, and as of Jan. 2012, they’re back in the UK with the new songs all recorded. Then mixing. Check out the Veils blog, they’re actually really, really good about telling pretty much everything that’s going on rather than keeping it all a secret.
Seriously. I’m not a music reviewer or anything, but if you have a music playlist that has…. well… say White Stripes, Kings of Leon, Spoon, earlier Radiohead, earlier Kent (native language, not English tracks) then a shot of… The Frames, maybe… and even a touch of Muse and/or The Killers for the occasional epic-ness that seems to sneak in for a song or two… then The Veils would fit into that playlist. They’re not the same as any of the above listed – they fit into that overall vibe while still being unique when compared to the others.
Three videos by The Veils below to show what I’m talking about, btw.
Another aspect I **really** like about this band is that they somehow put their identity to songs w/o writing the same sort of songs…. I’m certain that could be explained better, but that’s all I have. Coldplay, for example: a good-tune-writing band and all, but you hear them and you say, “that’s a Coldplay song” b/c they all carry the same sort of thread in the actual song. The Veils stuff…. they can write songs that are very different from their other songs, and yet stamp their identity to it — beyond just the voice — it’s “The Veils” rather than “a Veils song”…. that probably doesn’t help explain it either. One tries.
Anyway. Buy their albums. Support good bands and enjoy the music while you’re at it.
Below: The Veils: Advice to Young Mothers video VS. The Veils: Calliope video VS. The Veils: The Leavers Dance (non-video)
And I always liked the open paragraph on their Wikipedia listing regarding the Veils live shows and Finn Andrews in particular:
The Veils are a London based Indie/Alternative rock band fronted by lead singer and songwriter Finn Andrews. They are known for their chaotic and highly cathartic live performances and Finn’s often scarily possessed stage presence. Head of Rough Trade Records Geoff Travis has referred to Finn as “A young but maturing real artist in the vein of Nick Cave and David Bowie”.[1] The Veils now have a growing following in Europe, The States and Canada.
