Unless you've been living a hermit like existence, on the far side of Pluto, since 1994, then you'll know that the Internet has become a massive platform for the advertisement of artists big and small; from universal titanic stadium fillers, to tiny bands and artists barely making waves in their own bedrooms, who are eager for the world to hear their sound.
We also know that broken links, pages that take a billion years to load, and complex, labyrinthine websites are always the bug bare of the music fan/net surfer, these days, and are more than likely to make you switch off, and move on to something else, rather than persist.
The first positive thing that must be said about Sharfla then, is how consumer friendly their website is. Maybe not what you want to hear, so much, when reading a review, but it's true; the site is neat, nice and simple to use, and glean information from, which makes the process of listening, and getting into this band, that extra bit more enjoyable!
Hailing from sunny Edinburgh, Scotland, Sharfla are (to some extent) an electronic dance quartet, comprising of Roncey Horton (vocals, synth and samples), Grainne Foster (electric violin and synth) Paolo Goglia on bass -and percussive powerhouse Paul Worth (drums, percussion and synth).
To date, they have self-released an EP, ‘Where It's True’ (2008), a single - ‘Where it's True’ - which has been unleashed on Italian electronic music label DavidDance, and an award winning mini album, ‘Shiny Shiny’ (which won 'Best Electronic Record' at 'The Scottish New Music Awards' at the end of last year), as well as doing plenty of gigging. So, it is clear that this is a band that is going places!
Clap your ears around debut mini album 'Shiny Shiny’(released in the autumn of 2011), and the first impression of the band could be that this sounds like synth pop-and in a vein not too dissimilar to the array of artists, including La Roux, Calvin Harris, and Little Boots, who ignited the charts, with music that could be described as having cherry picked influences from the synth laden period of the early to mid-eighties, a few years back.
Listen further, and shades of other genres can be detected on this small opus, including smidgens of trip hop, rock, and slithers of drum and bass, which all add to a lightly dark, dance orientated sound.
As with many vocalists, who happen to feature on dance records, or front dance acts, the eastern licked intonations of singer Roncey Horton’s vocals wouldn't sound out of place on a willowy folk record, with a (stylistic) tone somewhere between the voice of Beth Hirsch (who featured on Air's 1998 Moon Safari album) and pop queen Madonna.
Witnessed predominantly on ‘Shiny Shiny’, Horton's singing lends a ‘poppier’ vibe, to the band's sound, that has changed a little since the making of the EP, and would probably appeal to a wider audience than their earlier work.
Notable track,'Stupid Things’ bears more than a fleeting resemblance to Depeche Mode's magnificent 1997 smash ‘Barrel of a Gun’, but pleasingly pumping with a warmer pop heart!
Sharfla describe themselves as 'Dub-Hop' which is one of those slightly mysterious sub genres that, according to various web based sources, appears to be a fusion of elements of Hip-Hop and Dub-Step (quite suprisingly). Whether they state this with a little tongue wedged in cheek would be interesting to know, but, to be honest, doesn’t really detract from the enjoyment of listening to their work.
They list a range of influences, though, which aren't immediately reminiscent of, or devoted exclusively to, either genre, including arch experimentalist Bjork, through to dance wonder kids, Daft Punk, Manchester Electronica duo, Lamb, and eighties synth poppers, turned electric rock monsters, Depeche Mode.
Their first EP, 'We Are Free', released in 2008, is awash with exciting instrumentals (often with smatterings of wordless vocals) and snatches of spoken word samples, that are teeming with eastern leanings; tracks which sound incredibly filmic, invoking the feeling that they would work perfectly well sound tracking some form of independent classy epic, and bringing to mind the dance orientated work of tabla/producer/DJ genius, Talvin Singh, with 'string' sounds that wouldn't sound out of place on the William Orbit produced 'Ray Of Light' - era Madonna tracks, and also aspects quirkily reminiscent of (Happy Monday/Black Grape front man) Sean Ryder’s solo album 'Amateur Night In The Big Top', but without his gruff, stream of consciousness poetry. Maybe a future collaboration could be in order here?
A highlight, amongst this small arsenal of songs, is Top banana (Live) - a pulsing, rhythmic, progressive track, constructed on the back bone of a steady, repetitive barrage of heavy synth sounds, and 'baggy ' jazz style drumming; blocky, a bit like teletext, recalling smidgens of Green album period Orbital-and decorated with a platter of squiggly electronic noodling, which could be easily slipped into the ‘lysergically’ bubbling mix of a psyche trance anthem.
With so much going on for this band, the question is- what will happen next? How will their sound evolve; where will they go from here? Is there a full album in gestation?
Well, the answer to that, dear audient, is that we will just have to wait and see!
In the meantime, the award winning ‘Shiny Shiny’ is available on the bands website now, for the moderate price of four pounds-with 500 limited edition CDs available (in a high quality digipack); so give your ears a taste, and if you like what you hear, then order a copy from their website, before it is too late!
Review by Sam Slattery
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Nice work guys!
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