Anglo-French
quartet Draw Me Stories have worked
with REM producer Charlie Francis to
compose their debut album ‘Cocoon
Machina’ (pronounced kuh-koon mah-kuh-nuh). They were formed in Cardiff in
2008 and released an acoustic album in quick succession along with their EP ‘The Sky and The Mirror’ in 2009 and a
Double-A side in 2010 called ‘Oars/Becomes
the Hunted’. The band describe themselves as “occupying the space between
Art-Rock, Folk and Dance.” and have opted to write ‘Cocoon Machina’ from scratch rather than re-recording old tracks.
It’s clear
from the off that Draw Me Stories
are an intensely rhythmic and very unique band, who blend electronic textures
and unusual uses of percussion. Despite being hooked up with a top-notch
producer and big time Producer, the band has kept their music strikingly
simplistic and their lyrics as nature-orientated as possible. ‘Birdsong’ is the perfect opening to the
record.
‘Animals’,
which has already secured airplay on BBC
Radio One and Amazing Radio, is
the four-piece’s first single to be released from ‘Cocoon Machina’. Carl
Holdgetts’ vocals and instrumentation are minimalistic, but the track seems
sluggish but is saved by the ironically animalistic and tribal rhythms. Despite
the fact that the album has a prominent theme, ‘Our Whole Bodies’ is an example of how varied and well-produced the
individual tracks are. The layers of rhythms, vocals and melodies are seamless
and reflect the same quality of Elbow’s
early material.
Draw Me Stories are one of the most
experimental, yet remarkable bands you’re ever likely to come across. Even with
its trance like backbeat, ‘III’
submerges the listener into a state of relaxation rarely created through music,
let alone with electronic, syth and bass sections. The effortlessness and
uplifting style of ‘Cocoon Machina’ also encourages an appreciation of the
smaller aspects of life, such as the natural world, particularly in ‘Black Water Cave Part’.
The foursome has
clearly stumbled across something very rare in the music business; a knack for
writing and producing material that strikes at your emotions and thoughts
without constant relation to human relationships, namely love or heartache.
Their talents with both traditional and more unconventional instruments is
specifically illustrated in ‘Black Water
Cave Part 2’ and ‘Human Machine’,
which immerse the listener completely. The only drawback of ‘Human Machine’ is its length as there is
a danger of listeners’ interest.
Sparing
synthesisers and notable percussion add colour to a largely minimalist album
but ‘Entracte’ commences so
simplistically that it could be mistaken for a heartbeat. But even with
additions of bass, it is, in a word passable. Yet the start/stop motion of ‘A Place behind Locked Doors/Refined
Nostalgic Fool’ provides an upbeat element to ‘Cocoon Machina’ but still allows you to lose yourself as it plays.
It’s safe
to say that Draw Me Stories seem to
have gone in a different direction for ‘Kaleidoscope’,
with its odd blend of electronic build-up and outer-space sound effects. And ‘We Saw Things (without Our Faces)’
follows a similar, obscure route, with Dance components that wouldn’t go miss
in an Enter Shikari track but ‘Blood Follows Grain, Grain Follows Blood’
reverts back to the daze enhancing conventions of the rest of the album.
Draw Me Stories have truly done what
many musicians fail to achieve in their entire career; compose something
strikingly different, even undefinable yet enjoyable. The band’s flair for
various instruments and styles has created a minimal, expressive and really
poignant compilation.
4/5
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