As part of their commitment to supporting grassroots artists, Wakefield’s Long Division ‘New Additions: Vol 2’ features songs and recordings from artists who had been scheduled to perform at Long Division`s 2020 West Yorkshire festival. The compilation features ten new songs from a host of exciting new artists and runs on a co-op model with all proceeds to be distributed evenly amongst the acts. Having initially moved their festival from June to November 2020, Long Division have made the difficult call to postpone entirely to June 2021.
The album opens with York’s Cowgirl and `Wasn’t Listening` a lo-fi rock n roll number with some big guitar riffs and a real who gives a fuck bluster. They have an almost New York Dolls attitude about them. East Yorkshire post-punk quintet Priestgate share `Now` with its wonderfully extensive sound, it had a real retro feel about it that put me in mind of early Echo and The Bunnymen. A band to watch out for.
Glasgow`s dream-pop outfit Life Model offer up `Walking Backwards` a song that begins quietly before growing into a more sprawling ethereal-sounding mixture of distorted guitars, pounding drumbeats and saccharine vocals. If ever the Jesus and Mary Chain and Mazzy Star had a child, this would be it. There`s a more Buzzcocks feel about `Manic` from fellow Glaswegians Lemon Drink. A hyper uplifting piece with some pleasing harmonies which almost stops two thirds of the way through before racing along once again.
Edinburgh based Mt. Doubt have a practically unique brand of dark pop and singer songwriter Leo Bargery`s distinctly mesmerising voice really shines on `Stairwell Songs` It`s a quite emotive and tender piece brought to life with some quite gifted supporting musicians. The curiously titled HerTiltedMoons is really the nom de plume for Venetian singer-songwriter Cecilia Nicolè who graces us with `Orange Grove` a haunting almost stripped back number with piano, strings, and Cecilia`s delicate vocal.
Leeds based band In The Morning Lights consists of Matilde Mirotti and Frankie Harper and offer `Milk And Honey` a slice of alternative electronic pop with vocals that stray slightly off centre at times but make this a compelling listen. `C’est Comme De Robots N’est Pas` or possibly `it’s like robots isn’t it` is supplied by groove-based experimental pop band Bunkerpop from Hull. A very funky Afrobeat sound with vocals almost hidden in the mix of this superbly entrancing number that I feel would go down a storm at a festival.
Pontefract’s indie newcomers Macroscope offer up `Reveal` a quite spacious slice of indie / new wave pop in the vein of The Charlatans or The Bluetones. They have a real find with vocalist Luc Hyde and I really loved the piano twinklings provided by Finn O`Beirne. Excellent stuff. `Little Tiny` is the almost hymn like offering we have from The State Of Georgia, which seems to be Georgia Jakobiak and her band. It`s a wonderfully expansive quite otherworldly piece which showcases the rich deep and heart wrenching vocal range of this Leeds based singer.
I thoroughly enjoyed this album, which will hopefully go some way towards compensating these bands for being unable to play this summer`s festival. It also introduced me to a number of artists that I’ll certainly be investigating further. This excellent compilation is well worth a listen and may even tempt you into investing in a ticket for next June`s rescheduled event.
Rating 9/10
