Wildbirds & Peacedrums

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5...according to our Brian on Thu 20 May, 2010.

These peeps never fail to impress me, a Swedish M/F duo that produce soulful, otherworldly percussive pop with scintillating use of abstract angles & bluesy vocal stylings. Her voice has a tendency to grate on some folk but I think she proudly straddles the boundary between Beth Gibbons & Beach House's Victoria Legrand, possessing an affecting & swooping range that I find incredibly moving - especially in the context of a choral torch-song! This collaborative EP - the first of two 12"s to be compiled into an album at a later date - features the same choir Bjork employed on Medulla and some very beautiful, sumptuous & atmospheric neo-classical arrangements amongst the widescreen tribalisms. I'm thoroughly taken with this record, they've excelled themselves here, taken their cosmic minimalism to new heights. Get involved in their sound-world for you may not want to leave. Beautiful!

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Sweden’s Wildbirds & Peacedrums return in May with Retina, the first of a pair of stunning vinyl only EPs. Its companion, Iris, will be made available in early June. Each will be individually numbered, limited edition white vinyl 12”s. The two EPs will then be compiled as an album, entitled Rivers, to be released as a double CD and download in August. * The release of Retina coincides with Wildbirds & Peacedrums’ short European tour, backed by a 12- piece choir, including a live premiere at the Pavement-curated ATP and a London show at Bishopsgate Institute. Their growing live reputation suggests these will be shows to remember. The band recently returned from a US tour with St Vincent, and wowed audiences around the world in 2009. * Retina comprises five extraordinary new songs, stratospheric in scale and emotional scope, thematically linked by the idea of water as a reflection of emotions. The songs were recorded in Iceland in just three days by Mariam Wallentin and Andreas Werliin and the 12-strong Schola Cantorum Reykjavík Chamber Choir (who also featured on Björk’s Medulla album). * The Retina EP features a stellar cast drawn from the Bedroom Community group, recorded by Australian émigré sound artist and engineer Ben Frost, mixed by Valgeir Sigurðsson (Camille, CocoRosie, Bonnie Prince Billy, etc) and with choral arrangements by Hildur Guðnadóttir (who has collaborated with Fever Ray, Throbbing Gristle and is a member of Múm). * ‘Bleed Like There Was No Other Flood’ opens the EP, with a majestic, celestial rise and fall of choir voices and Mariam’s passionate, soaring, reverb-drenched lead vocal. Andreas’s percussion ranges from first raindrops through to the high-hat hiss of a storm at night. It is an immense track.

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