Brighton's Winter Gardens wear their influences on their sleeves, and, yeah, lots of new bands do. What Winter Gardens do that is so remarkable is blend those influences into something unique that stands on its own. The band's new single "Coral Bells", set to drop on Austerity Records next month, is a superb debut record, and the sort of thing one wants to play about a dozen times in a row after a first listen.
The players here -- Ananda, Jim, Matt, and Alex -- positively soar on "Coral Bells", and if a listener (obviously) thinks back to mid-Nineties-era Cocteau Twins stuff thanks to Ananda's incredible vocals, one should also notice how easily the other three players here have mastered this sort of thing. Shades of classic 4AD bands abound -- it is worth noting that the band has opened for Modern English already -- but flashes of "Spellbound"-era Siouxsie and The Banshees are also apparent, along with rhythmic lines reminiscent of early singles from New Order.
This is an absolutely fantastic track and I cannot wait to hear more from this band.
More details on Winter Gardens and the whole Austerity Records roster over at Austerity Records, or the label's Facebook page.
For more on Winter Gardens, head over to their official Facebook page.
[Photo: Uncredited promotional picture]