Grubby Mitts - To a Friend's House

“…Wonderfully sad, with huge conviction and emotion” The Guardian / The Grubby Mitts are a 5-piece band from Bedfordshire, fronted by visual artist Andy Holden; whose recent solo exhibition at the TATE Britain was praised by The Guardian as "Inward-looking and subtly monumental... Holden's work confirms the seriousness and intelligence of young art at the moment." Holden was also interviewed in the September issue of the Wire regarding his ability to combine art and music. New single To a Friend’s House takes its refrain from a cross-stitching that used to hang by the front door of Holden's grandmother’s house. The song begins with each member of the band repeating the refrain; “To a friend’s house the way is never long!” whilst around it the looping percussion, harmonium, guitars, string section and brass build towards an epic conclusion.  The accompanying b-side on the white 7” vinyl is a clarinet rendition of the Beach Boy’s classic God Only Knows. Stripped to its bare bones and devoid of lyrics the song is given a lonely, reflective quality that compliments the sentiment of the A-side perfectly. The track already been championed by Tom Robinson and looks set for radio play by various other 6Music programmes, as well as securing a review in Artrocker (who praised the track on their recent podcast), and the accompanying video was given as an exclusive on The Line of Best Fit.  The track has seen the band featured and interviewed on a number of websites including Don’t Panic and Other Side, with The Devil Has the Best Tuna describing it as “quirky, affectionate, affecting and sounds like The Polyphonic Spree if they'd been brought up in a council house in Croyden.” The Grubby Mitts have slowly established a reputation in the UK, offering elaborate multi-media concerts often in unusual locations, such as the Odeon Cinema in Covent Garden or the room of Sublime Landscape paintings at the TATE.  However, they have also played headline shows at The Luminaire and Lexington in London, Islington Mill, Salford, Cube Cinema, Bristol, and Milton Keynes Art Gallery and New Art Gallery, Walsall.

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