| CD REVIEW Kyte |
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Band : Kyte Originally, this Electro Indie Pop group from Leicestershire in Britain played music labelled as Shoegazer (or Neo-Shoegazer) and Post-Rock (as possibly evidenced on their debut 2006 self-released EP Switch Motion To The Sky), but they’ve since then moved into a more Electro and Pop oriented direction. The band (comprised of singer Nick Moon, guitarist/ keyboardist Tom Lowe, bassist Ben Cox and drummer Sccott Hislop) released their debut 7-inch single Planet in 2007, and saw its b-side “Boundaries” used in a US trailer for American tv-series The Sopranos. The self-titled debut full-length was released in early 2008 (on Kids Records in the UK, with a European distribution through Erased Tapes Records) to generally positive reviews. The band promoted the album with a full UK tour from March to May, and continued to play the Summer festivals. Autumn 2008 saw the release of the Two Sparks, Two Stars EP which, filled up with additional new songs (and a couple of re-mixes), was used for the Japan-only 2009 release (on the Rallyelabel) of the 2-disc album Science For The Living (release in the UK & EU still to come, I gather). Apparently the band had also been to Japan in late 2008, when Rallyealso released the Japan Tour EP. Leading to the release of the new album, the band organized a remix competition for the album’s track “IHNFSA”, one of the prizes of which would be to see the winning track featured on the download IHNFSA EP which was made available a week before the release of the album. And to launch the album, which was by then gathering positive reviews already (see also the band’s MySpace), the band had a free gig/party at The Old Blue Last in Shoreditch (London). To describe the band’s music, I’ll need for you to imagine a soundscape in which atmospherics battle…sorry, make that marry…with soft Electro sounds, the occasional Ambient-geared distorted guitar (means there’s distortion, but the sound level is turned down) and Poppy overtones. Not all at once, because obviously there’s some diversity with specific songs gearing to one specific direction (there’s songs geared towards Guitar Pop, others towards a Soft-Electro Pop, yet others have a more Ambient atmosphere), but even in its variety the music remains very much typically Kyte due to the vocalist’s rather typical singing style (and incidently, the backing vocals are done in the same way). A combination of whisper and melodic singing which is simply too difficult to describe, I suggest in stead that you visit myspace.com/kyteband, where the band posted 4 tracks off the album for anyone to sample and savour! What you’ll hear areoothing sounds with nice underlying complexities in a soft Poppy body, which make the listener want for more. So, you stand warned: listening to this band’s music will most probably make you wanna get up from your seat, go out, and order the album at your favourite music retailer (unless you’re a real lazy ass and found a way to order stuff over the Internet)! 90/100 Tony. |