Showing posts with label Scott Pemberton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scott Pemberton. Show all posts

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Exit Calm New Album and UK-European tour

Our favorite English band Exit Calm are back and they are stronger than ever. Their highly anticipated new album 'The future isnt what it used to be' is here. The bench was high with the debut double album but they have not disappoint a tiny bit with this second release.
They are currently touring England and Scotland and there are also strong rumors of an inminent european tour. Its only uphill from here.

                                                                                        Edinburgh sept 2013


I had the pleasure to see the band on the last week in Leeds, Manchester and Edinburgh (and hoping to make it to Sheffield and Nottingham on the upcoming days) and I can confirm they are more electric and tight live than ever! Brilliant bass driven songs directed by Simon Lindsley strongly backed up with the shimmering and hypnotizing wall of sound of Rob Marshall electric guitar topped with the skilled solid backbeat of Scott, always working his arse off and last but not least the vocals of Nicky Smith, a very talented lyricist and a better singer.

Album track list:

1. The Rapture
2. Albion
3. Fiction
4. When They Rise
5. Higher Bound 
6. Holy War 
7. Promise 
8. Glass Houses 
9. Open Your Sky


There is a vinyl limited edition (500 copies) and a cd release through their label AC30. 
You can but it here
Ive Heard there are only a few copies left to this date so hurry up if you want to get yours!



They have already a couple of brilliant singles released 'The rapture' and 'When they rise' (both also available as 7 inches format) and seems the track 'Promise' sounds like a contender for an upcoming one. Couldnt think of a better choice to be honest. Along with 'Higher Bound' are indeed my favorite songs on the album.

You can stream the full album Here






For more information of live dates visit Exit Calm official site: 

Exit Calm official site link

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Exit Calm debut album 2010 review

Exit Calm in the beautiful Skipton castle in Barnsley recording Hearts and Minds video clip


Here is an excellent review from me mate Sean McKernan:

It’s been a long time coming and lesser bands would have folded under the lack of recognition from a largely indifferent mainstream music industry, but Exit Calm’s debut album has finally arrived. The opening track, ‘You’ve got it all wrong’ is the sound of the mothership coming into land. A huge sonic rumble locks into a rock solid groove with blistering guitars twisting and turning in a way not heard since the days of Verve’s ‘Gravity Grave’.

Track two is the euphoric single ‘We‘re on our Own’. A cliché-free anthem that hits you between the eyes from the first snare drum crack.
‘When you realise’ starts with the delicate ethereal beauty of a Sigur Ros signature before the guitars muscle in and take it to another dimension. If ‘You’ve got it all Wrong’ is their ‘I Wanna be Adored’ (and yes, it really does deserve to be classed with debuts of such quality) then ‘Hearts and Minds’ is their ‘I am the Resurrection’. A colossal, exhilarating rock song with a simple killer hook and guitars at the end screaming like a 747 coming into land. It’s the first sign that something very special indeed is brewing, which grows as the opening hypnotic chimes of ‘Don’t look Down’ winds its way into the soul of the listener.

Forgiveness’ is simply stunning. Brooding, atmospheric lyrics locked down with another killer Lindley/Pemberton groove. A post-rock Sly and Robbie, their contribution to the album should not be underestimated.

‘Reference’ is a genuine hairs-on-the-back-of-the-neck-up beauty. Near orchestral guitars providing the perfect backdrop to the heartbreakingly poignant lyrics. Both in terms of style and quality


With Angels’ can be seen the sister track of ‘Forgiveness’. Complex and dynamic with moments of ferocious intensity.
‘Atone’ is another widescreen epic. Worked up from its original acoustic state into a song most other guitar bands in the world today would kill for.


‘Recovery’ starts with a military shuffling drum pattern and takes a while to find its groove before Rob Marshall takes control and hammers out a devastating psychedelic circular riff.
‘Serenity’ is the albums twilight track with Nicky Smith singing, as Tony Wilson once said about Joy Division, ‘like he has no fucking choice’. If Pemberton and Lindley are the post rock Sly and Robbie, then Rob Marshall is the post-rock Hendrix. Not in terms of flash virtuoso soloing and showmanship, but in terms of someone who has the ability to produce unworldly sounds from conventional instrumentation and an instinctive sixth-sense of how guitars fit together to produce a truly beautiful and epic sound. Massive waves and sheets of noise supplemented with elegant, subtle harmonic overlays without ever sounding overblown or bombastic.

Put simply, the guitars on this record make My Bloody Valentine sound like a bloke with a one stringed ukulele.


And then there is Nicky Smith. Renowned for his intense live performances, it is initially jolting to hear a genuine, ragged rock voice heading-up the type of guitar band traditionally fronted by a whispering, apologist whose vocals are just another sonic layer in the mix. Three of the tracks on the album (‘Atone’, ‘Serenity’ and ‘When you Realise’) have him singing more or less solo for the first half, revealing him to be a vocalist and lyricist of immense talent and power.
Recorded under conditions of almost unbearable financial and time-constrained pressure, Paddy Byrne and Ulrich Schnauss have created a widescreen masterpiece comparable with anything you’ll hear from a big budget studio. It’s a common trait for debut albums to sound neutered and over polite. The pair of have done a magnificent job in capturing the dynamic intensity of Exit Calm’s live performances.

This is not a classic shoegaze or post-rock record. It is a classic record full stop. One of the most accomplished debuts in recent (and even not so recent) history.

Totally devoid of filler tracks, it pulls you in instantly yet reveals more with every listen: two killer singles, an opening track as good as anything in living memory, power, complexity, intensity, beauty and passion with lyrics good enough to be published as poetry.

Top Manc scenester Clint Boon recently described Exit Calm as ‘One of greatest rock bands of all time. Simple as that’, which seems ridiculously overblown. Until you hear this album and it all makes perfect sense.
Has a debut album on a tiny independent label ever won the Mercury Music Prize? If there is any justice in the world, this album should.

Sean McKernan Monday 26th April 2010 11.15pm

http://www.glasswerk.co.uk/reviews/national/9014/Exit%20Calm

Ps. Got me vinyl copies today and they are simply stunning!

Pedro Vila

Friday, September 26, 2008

Exit Calm headline tour

Rugby show poster

By the time you read this I'll be flying to England to see Exit Calm performing live in their first headline tour all over the country. I am sure it will be their last warm up gigs before they go into the studio to record the long awaited first album which is expected to see the light earlier next year.
I will see them live in Rugby [Style Bar] and Oldham Manchester [The Castle] in what I believe it will be one of the last chances to see Exit Calm in small venues. Although I hope it doesn't happens for a while because when it comes to sound, proximity and good vibes, big venues or arenas will never beat the feeling you get seeing bands in small halls.

'We are on our own' new single. Oldham poster

I have been through this before with other smaller bands I ve seen on the past that have now have become major acts. And it is not the same.
But being honest I would love to see the lads playing one day in Wembley or Glasto, who knows? Time will say.
Which is sure is that they all have the quality and class to achieve that one day.