Great Britain seems to be smashing it in terms of the acoustic/indie/emo stuff at the moment, and you can add Blackburn duo Edgarville to the list of bands making intelligent, contagious but not overly worthy jams.
The beauty of ‘Fingerprints & Handwriting’ can be found in its rawness. Unlike the occasionally overly saccharine output from, our US brethren, there’s a rough edge to songs such as ‘Corn’ that drives proceedings along with a ferocious fearlessness that simply has to be admired.
In particular, the vocals come overflowing with personality. From background roars to venomous, spiteful spitting, it often sits at odds with the delicate music – and to great effect too. Take ‘Cous Cous’ for example, which in parts sounds like some crazy collaboration between Owen and Leatherface. It’s unfiltered and bristling with emotion, but beguiling and welcoming all the same.
Fingerprints & Handwriting by Edgarville
Yet Edgarville tread this fine line very well throughout. ‘Fingerprints & Handwriting’ never falls into cheap, empty sloganeering, despite the rabble-rousing tinge to the vocals, nor does it ever drift into Kinsella-core hero worship, despite the intricate guitar work.
A couple of instrumental cuts do well to break the intensity – ‘Hugh’ in particular is a triumph, exploding into the driving ‘The Flow’, proving they’ve got enough nous to deliver a well-constructed album that flows (ahem) perfectly. Not bad at all considering ‘Fingerprints & Handwriting’ could be slightly testing at 13 songs and Edgarville are a remarkably young band, having formed in November 2014.
Still, if you’re after a prime slice of UK emo/indie/acoustic/folk with something a little different, you could do far worse than making friends with Edgarville.
4/5
’Fingerprints & Handwriting’ by Edgarville is out now.
Edgarville links: Facebook|Bandcamp
Words by Rob Mair (@BobNightMair
