Amber Herd - In Cascade

  by Dave Goodwin

published: 6 / 9 / 2016

Label: Herdwerks
Format: CDS

intro

Fabulous new EP from Nottinghamshire-based psychedelic band the Amber Herd which finds them marching onwards and continuing to better themselves

It feels like 'Our Only Eden', the Amber Herd's brilliant debut album has only been out a few months and here they are with another piece of music for your listening pleasure. This next offering, however, is considerably shorter than that album with only four tracks and is unleashed on an unsuspecting world as the 'In Cascade' EP. As with much of that album, 'In Cascade' was musically written by the band itself with Neil Beards taking credit for the lyrical content. The EP is soaked in all sorts of psychedelia and various other beats. The opener 'Northern Sky' opens with Beards' vocals and then kicks in with slightly slower than mid tempo beats which somehow reminded me of early to mid James especially at its end. 'Hall of Mirrors' opens with a strange, echoed guitar and mechanical rhythm and Beards' voice shrouded in echo. It then erupts into a danceable beat with a break in the middle that sports some lovely organ and solo guitar before ending with more distorted guitar. I don't know if it was meant but for me the next track is the strongest of all the tracks on here. 'Thursday' is a masterpiece. It's a slower beat not too dissimilar to pink Floyd's 'Wish You Were Here' and drifts along nicely complementing Beards' vocals. 'Stage Fright', the last track, is probably the most psychedelic of the lot and is labelled up as the Payola Disco remix and descends into chaotic chanting towards the end. This is The Amber Herd at their best and if you thought the debut album was good musically and lyrically this will blow you away. For me this is the next in the natural progression of one of this country's most inspiring bands. As was the way with the first album, this EP is produced by Lorna's Mark Rolfe and recorded at Psyrex Soundlab in Nottingham and it comes housed in a card sleeve with colourful artwork both inside and out by Moyan Brenn. Marvellous!

Track Listing:-

Band Links:-