Member Since: 6/15/2006
Band Website: tandyhard.com (not up yet....)
Band Members: Andrew Willis.On the forthcoming lp 'Tandy Hard' (drift records, spring 2008), Jane Bartholomew plays piano and keyboards and sings, Johny Lamb sings and plays cornet, Ashley Coulson plays violins, Steven Grainger plays keyboards, Christian Davis plays drums. Gabriel Stebbing also sings. There's a lot of singing.
Alice Stevenson provided the artwork - www.alicestevenson.com
Influences: Anyone Who Had A Heart, Dead Ringer For Love, Friends Of Mine, Absolutely Sweet Marie, Agnes Queen Of Sorrow, Peggy Sue, Oh Hercules, Alice Wading, Ulrika's Body, Mathilde, The Gypsy's Wife, Green Eyes, The Love Of My Life.
Sounds Like: It's difficult to resist the instant urge to brand Tandy Hard's Andrew Willis as the south's Richard Hawley. With a velveteen sheen to his music and a lyrical elegance that walks a fine and sophisticated line between Scott Walker and Edwyn Collins he's a singer/songwriter who talks with the same stately romance and bittersweet aura of Sheffield's finest son.
As an integral part of Devon's excellent Drift Records such comparisons will suit Willis. Hawley's reputation as a fashion-resistant balladeer have garnered him a passionate and committed fan-base of musical waifs and strays desperately seeking some soul in their UK music. 'Tandy Hard' will appeal instantly to this rag-tag community. If he's not careful, Willis could well be sitting on a cult classic album here and it's not hard to see precisely why.
At eleven songs in length, this is a delightfully elegant listen from beginning to end. From the opening splendour of 'I Guess' Willis caresses each of these songs with the delicate and cherished touch of a true craftsman. Painstakingly adding fine detail (miniscule string parts add a lovely texture throughout the LP), each song seems smooth to the touch with Willis' dry-wit and lyrical flair working in tandem to tie these gentle folk songs together into an album that feels so much more than the mere sum of its parts.
Highlights themselves are plentiful; 'War Songs' is a beautiful downbeat ode that comes to life with the addition of Jane Bartholomew's whispered backing vocals (giving the impression of a subdued and string-laden Delgados), 'Stockholm' is a galloping folk-rock stomp, whilst the closing epic of 'Tandy Hard' piles on the melodrama as it swells to its rather impressive climax.
It's a faultless debut that deliberately sits beyond the confines of fashion. If Richard Hawley can carve himself such an impressive niche then there's no reason for thinking Willis won't be too far behind.
'Tandy Hard' is released on 1st September through Drift Records.
Record Label: Drift Records
Type of Label: Indie