Channel Cairo - Elephant Room

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3...according to our Mike on Wed 07 Sep, 2011.

Here's a new 7" from a band I know nothing about, Channel Cairo. As far as I gather they're an Anglo-French quintet based in London who play emotionally expansive piano-led indie rock. The A side here starts out fairly promising, with a vocal refrain ever-so-slightly borrowed from Free and some tasteful tinkling, but by the end of the track subtlety goes out the window and there's some full-on Coldplay-esque epic pop bombast that for my taste seems a bit naff. On the flip we're treated to an acoustic demo of Underrated Grace, which is a bouncy little number, once again piano-led, which gives the singer a chance to show off his silky skills. Turns out he sounds a bit like him out of Gene. It's basically like that side of mid-'90s Britpop but with loads of piano. Slickly done but there's not a lot going on by way of original ideas. Interesting fact: Channel Cairo is actually an anagram of Clams Casino.

Anglo-French quintet Channel Cairo (Vocalist and pianist Josh Bowyer; guitarists Hamish Murtagh and Luke Saunders, bassist Joe Cross and drummer James Gardiner) are a London based musical collective hell-bent on writing giant, timeless songs. Two pairs of long term friends (and a fifth member recruited via a show-stopping audition) came together and bonded over a love of spine-tingling harmony, and music that sings louder and longer than any fad or fashion.

With a sound that's been likened (by critics and fans alike) to Jeff Buckley, Radiohead, The Killers and Local Natives, the five piece have been gigging the London circuit furiously since their inception in 2010, playing shows with the likes of Wave Machines, Giant Steps, Let's Buy Happiness and Deep Sea Arcade - wowing crowds and building their fan-base simultaneously with their emotive, hard-hitting sounds.

London based club night and 7" label Laissez Faire Club (Ice Black Birds, The Collectable Few) signed the band up for their debut single just after its fourth birthday party at The Macbeth in January 2011 - where the band, playing the opening slot at 8pm, had the room packed to the rafters before delivering a sterling, memory embossing performance.

The chosen track for release, 'Elephant Room' (just 'Elephants' in its previous incarnation as one of the band's earliest demos), was produced and recorded by Tom Fuller (Patrick Wolf, David's Lyre) at North London's Snap Studios in the months directly following, and sets out their stall perfectly. Piano based, harmony filled, atmospheric, transportive and building up to a dramatic, frenzied conclusion, it's a firm, honest picture of where the band are now - and is also a taster of what to expect from them in the future. The B-side, an acoustic demo of live favourite 'Underrated Grace', is stripped down and sparse by comparison. Totally organic, it's just front man Bowyer on his own with his beloved piano, and is a thing of raw, simplistic beauty. 7" includes mp3 download code.

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