Frank's Daughter - The Sound of a Heart Unravelling

  by Dave Goodwin

published: 13 / 7 / 2013

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Review

Now here's a thing. I was brought up listening to Motown, Lena Martell, Shirley Bassey, Val Doonican and Burl Ives , so it is no wonder ( apart from the first example) as I shot skyward at a great rate, out growing my clothes week by week, that I started to listen to a lot of depressive bands. It felt like the logical progression although my parents were a little worried. On first listening to Franks Daughter's debut album 'The Sound of a Heart Unravelling’ I was left thinking, “I like my dark stuff, but is this perhaps too dark even for the average darkster?” Frank’s Daughter are Frank (vocals, guitar, keys) and Arthur (guitar, bass, programming). They happen to be two British musicians who found themselves living and working in New York. Whilst consuming what they have described as “several bottles of red wine and many, many whiskies” in a Brooklyn bar, the pair agreed to get together musically and returned to London. It wasn't long before they decided the capital’s uninspiring environment wasn't for them , and the story is that they “relocated to an out of season Alpine hotel, taking a van full of recording equipment.” After spending two months in total isolation, they returned with a wad full of new material which was largely unfinished and locked themselves in their Deptford studio. These desolate but exquisite songs form ‘The Sound Of A Heart Unravelling’. And there's the key word, right there. Desolate. It conjures up a notion of desolation, say, the day a full on relationship dies? We've all been there. This is an atmospheric, haunting album fuelled by some unearthly drums, tampered synths and a vocal painful enough to make it work. But will it work for everyone? Well, to be honest, it won't do. It is not going to be for everybody's cup of tea, but work for me. Styled as “Alternative, Experimental, Electronica” it will appeal to fans of bands like Portishead and Massive Attac. But trust me, it is darker than that. It comes wrapped in a layer of black tissue kept together with a length of twine and a wax seal of the bands logo on the front. ‘Fall Fully Backwards’ is the debut single and one of the strongest tracks on the album which is full of fuzzy guitars, fuzzy vocals in places, classic piano and some great searching harmonies. Other stand-out tracks are the brilliant Bunnymen-esque 'Ugly Water', which is so dark that it shines with its haunting lyrics of “I want to drag your body with me down to the sea,” and the atmospheric 'Song for the Witches'. Did you ever get lost as a kid? Like in a supermarket or wood or something like that and you got that feeling of alone, isolation, panic to the point of exhaustion? This album is like that. Not to everyone's tastes but a sheer must to those who gorge on similar veins.

Track Listing:-

1 We Were Waves Once
2 Gravity In Glass
3 Best Glow
4 Playground
5 Lapvik
6 Ugly Water
7 Song For The Witches
8 Fall, Fully, Backwards
9 In A Still Life
10 Goodnight

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/franks.daught
http://www.franks-daughter.com/
http://franks-daughter.tumblr.com/
https://twitter.com/Franks_Daughter
https://www.youtube.com/user/ImmureVpr