Magical, bleak and beautiful, the music of welkin is fearless, feral, ethereal and epic in proportion. On their newest release Strangers & Exiles, the 12 tracks are as brilliant and austere as the aurora borealis in a cold night sky with Geoff Birch's voice taking them to the vault of heaven (or the welkin) with depth and humanity.
Welkin is the brainchild of singer, songwriter, producer, guitarist and pianist, Geoff Birch. He occasionally performs solo but most often with the band. Geoff is joined by brother Darren Birch on drums, Jeff Powell on bass and on keys/organ by Chris Janz. Based in Vancouver and formed in 2001, welkin's psychedelic art rock has proven to be worthy of attention. The bands discography includes the critically acclaimed debut 'No Ordinary Elephant'. Their 2004 EP received excellent reviews and the much anticipated sophomore record 'Strangers and Exiles' released by MapleNationWide in 2005, was chosen out of more than 500 bands across British Columbia to receive the MUSIC BC/Precision Disc Manufacturing prize of 1000 free pressed CDs. Welkin toured major cities across Canada in 2005 garnering new fans everywhere in the wake of their passionate and spellbinding live shows.
For inspiration, Birch lives in a cabin in the Cascade Mountains of British Columbia where he writes the words and composes the music for all of the welkin songs. In the recording studio, he lays down all his vocal tracks in the nude. He says it gets him a little closer to the music.
'Strangers and Exiles' covers a wide musical terrain ranging from the sweeping title track, to the otherworldly 'One Great Night', the driving 'Beautiful One', the ephemeral 'Horses Heaving Under These Silver Stars' and majestic sounds of 'Howling Wind'. For best listening results, lug your speakers into your backyard and aim them at the welkin. Let the music do the rest.
What the critics have to say:
"Equal parts smouldering, country-noir and prog-leaning soft rock, the 10 tracks on the groups independent debut have an expansive shimmering beauty, making them perfect for midnight stargazing, backwoods campfires, and clamping on the headphones in the wee hours."
-The Georgia Straight, VANCOUVER
"Pink Floyd and Radiohead would be proud. With that said, Geoff Birch keeps it real for Welkin as a band truly ready to tour Canada to sold out shows once realized. 'Small' is anything but, its the mood of the album, whereas 'Horses Heaving Under These Silver Stars' is pure gold and will be what pokes Geoff Birch and the boys in the gut and lead them to continued artistic brilliance."
-Soulshine TORONTO
"While in Buffalo Springfield and during the first months of his solo career, Neil Young pursued an expansive, complex strain of symphonic rock that sounded like folk songs set adrift in outer space. Welkin, the six-year-old vehicle for Vancouver's Geoff Birch, sounds like what might have happened if Young had continued on that path."
-WE, VANCOUVER
"Welkin deliver the kind of imaginative, deep and textured rock that is the perfect soundtrack for dreams of storming the castle, surfing that endless summer wave or simply sitting stoned alone in your backyard. Welkin genuinely seem to have their finger on the sedated pulse of the stoner rock culture."
-24HOURS, VANCOUVER
"Apparently, band mastermind Geoff Birch lives in a cabin in the Cascade Mountains for inspiration. Well, it worked. I'd say the LSD worked too, as he and the boys get down to business the way the Floyd used to. Good songs, good singin', good record."
-Nerve Magazine
"Unusual for a Vancouver made record. Welkin, a trio led by Geoff Birch, is more concerned with mood so the punchline takes its time in coming. The songs on Welkin's CD tend to be lengthy, sometimes recalling progressive rock but sometimes bringing to mind the atmospheric tension (and beauty) of the lauded but little known Blue Nile."
-The Province, VANCOUVER
"A massive, ambient art rock record full of gorgeous, often exhausting epics. It's a mostly successful attempt at an organic Pink Floydian, Radioheadian album - a 70-plus minute journey inside of your mind, meant to take you far, far away from where you sit and into the furthest reaches of that wide open space."
-The Calgary Sun
"Not a sound has been overlooked, and nothing is misplaced on "Strangers & Exiles". The complexity of the arrangements is oft times awe-inspiring and mind-boggling, and just grows more so with each listen. Full of surreal imagery, the folding repetition of lyrics adds to the pulsing, melting, and swirling beauty of the beast, for "Strangers & Exiles" is a living and breathing thing."
-SOULSHINE, Toronto
