Admiral Fallow

ADMIRAL FALLOW

Louis Abbott: vocals, guitars
Kevin Brolly: clarinet, keys, piano, vocals
Phil Hague: drums, percussion, vocals
Sarah Hayes: flute, piano, accordion, vocals
Joe Rattray: bass, vocals

BIOGRAPHY 2012

“Devastatingly downtrodden and wonderfully uplifting. . . surprising and enthralling. . . finely crafted material played superbly well” (Mike Diver, BBC Album Reviews Editor)

“Anthemic yet understated. Big and bold, but avoiding theatrical cheese. Every note serves a purpose and has its place, nothing is wasted and nothing is missed.” (Music-News.com)

“The perfect musical storm: depth, strength of feeling and technical skill in one sublime package.” (Stereokill.net)

“A veritable masterclass in dark-hued yet uplifting, catchily literate roots-pop” (The Herald)

“So good, so dark, so beautiful” (Daniel P. Carter, BBC Radio 1)

New Album
8/10 in Uncut, 4**** in Q and Sunday Times Culture.... "a band headed for the top."

Admiral Fallow are, quite probably, a new-to-you band – albeit one landing in your in-tray or inbox today with a debut album already under their collective belt, 2010’s superbly acclaimed Boots Met My Face. As such an achievement should suggest, this Glasgow-based ensemble has paid its dues several times over, sleeping on floors on tour and making the most of meagre resources to further a cause that’s earned them comparisons to the likes of The Delgados and Midlake and attracted plaudits from such high-profile individuals as Elbow’s Guy Garvey, King Creosote and Guillemots’ Fyfe Dangerfield.

Now, with the release of Tree Bursts in Snow – produced and mixed at Glasgow's famous Chem 19 studios by Paul Savage (Franz Ferdinand, Mogwai, Teenage Fanclub), and mastered by Greg Calbi (Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, The National) at Sterling Sound in NYC – the five-piece (regularly swelled to a larger collective live) is ready to take the next step: from the recommended column of several critics’ reviews catalogue and into the hearts of the wider public..

This is craft - honed, refined and ready to go. Says Louis Abbott, the group’s frontman: “I worked out recently that we’ve been playing together for six years, so we’re very glad to be in this position, to give another album to people who’ve supported us.”

But it’s not exclusively those who’ve prior experience of Admiral Fallow’s music, which veers from rambunctious acoustica to tenderly toned introspection – newcomers are sure to find hooks aplenty in Tree Bursts in Snow’s ten tracks. Indeed, it’s a collection geared for maximum first-impression impact.

“I think of an album in the same way I do a live show,” says Abbott, whose solo endeavours developed into Admiral Fallow in 2007; “it needs to have a strong balance between catchy numbers and the slow-burners.” And so Tree Bursts in Snow matches its upbeat offerings with quieter arrangements, presenting a mix of immediate delights and songs that might take a few listens to take hold of the soul. (But worry not, as they will.) Lyrically, this is a collection focusing on themes both universal and deeply personal: certain fears manifest themselves in songs such as ‘Tree Bursts’ and ‘The Paper Trench’, but love for life itself is articulated on ’Isn’t This World Enough??’. Says Abbott: “I think the times we live in can get you down, and the way to deal with this is to do what you love – and right now, we love making music together and playing it to people.”

It might seem natural to place Admiral Fallow beside certain purveyors of what’s become bracketed as nu-folk, but the outfit is as much a new chapter in the continuing history of remarkable independent voices from north of the border as it is aligning itself with topical trends. “Members of the band have experience in traditional, electronic, orchestral and Indie music,” says Abbott, “and I didn’t have an electric guitar when we began playing together.” So: the end product is of an entirely organic design, and certainly not to be confused with coattail-riding revisionists.

Filtering imagery of war through perspectives that prefer the positive over wallowing in pity, Admiral Fallow have, with Tree Bursts in Snow, realised their most compelling statement of intent to date. A bright, breezy listen on ‘Guest of the Government’ (squint and it could be The National with a burr), affectingly intimate on ‘Brother’ (perhaps the most personal lyric herein), it’s a set that conveys a raft of emotions with accomplished poise – with the sort of experience that can only come from hard graft.

Summer festival appearances in Scotland, England, Switzerland, Germany. Touring Germany, North America and UK from September 2012.

www.admiralfallow.com

also see

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Admiral_Fallow

Admiral Fallow HQ

Management,:General enquiries Robin Morton, Lo-Five
robin@robinmorton.com 0044 7870 590909

UK press contact: Meg Greenhorn mgreenhorn@nettwerk.com Direct : +0044 207 456 9516
Mobi