Keston Cobblers Club were formed by brother and sister duo Matthew and Julia Lowe with school friends Tom Sweet and Harry Stasinopoulos. The band have just celebrated their 10 year anniversary.
With this release, the follow up to their 2019 album ‘Siren’, they decided to delve back into their roots for inspiration. The loose theme of the album is based on folklore from their home town of Bromley in Kent. Matthew Lowe says: ”We wanted to create an eclectic album that is quintessentially Cobblers.” Be careful what you wish for!
The Anthem of the Alchemist is a fable of an Alchemist who dedicates his life to turning basic metals into gold, but as an old man he finds a message in a bottle he had written as a child which reads ‘Forget the gold it’ll only blind you’.
The anthology of thirteen songs set out to guide this particular Alchemist and, by extension, all listeners, to discover their inner light.
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The hook-laden melodies, brassy backing and affirmative anthemic chanting are upbeat and catchy in the manner of Mumford & Sons or Beirut. The songs exist in a folk-pop bubble of their own design and doubtless go down a storm when played live.
While the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed optimism is refreshing up to a point, personally speaking there’s only so much of this relentless joyfulness I can stomach before craving some bleaker folk tales and darker murder ballads.
Keston Cobblers Club’s website
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