This is a strange one. Housed in bizarre, yet quite beautiful eco-friendly cardboard packaging, the mysterious 'Torches' EP comes hand-finished with love from Anglo-Italian outfit MAGPIE WEDDING: a genre-defying quartet from Bologna who – on this recording at least – expanded to a sextet with contributions from drummer Emanuela Piras and violinist Eleonora Ghizzi.
I say genre-defying, because 'Torches'' six songs flirt with Post-Rock, Folk and Indie, enjoying a snog but refusing to succumb wholeheartedly to any temptation. This isn't a criticism - as Magpie Wedding weave an intriguing sonic tapestry – just an observation that they could potentially strike out in several directions from here.
Whatever, there's plenty to both enjoy and keep you guessing for now. Opening track 'Time Yet' is sparse and fragile, yet determined too. Flecks of noise and distortion (is that the singing saw listed on the sleeve?) cloud and colour the horizon and act as an intriguing counterpoint to Grace Fox's clear and commanding voice. 'Daughter of The Plains' sends fascinating semaphore signals too. Riddled with religious imagery (“slash your seven seals...I will stand my ground and savour my last meal”), it's based around skeletal acoustic guitar and tiny glockenspiel and could almost be from the 'Wicker Man' OST until the drums kick in.
Elsewhere, 'Train Song”s skirling violins and accordion bring a dramatic, Mittel European feel to the party and the seafarer's lament 'September Song' (no relation to Brecht & Weill) is a little more obviously indie-friendly with its' swathes of fuzz guitar and penchant for distortion. The restrained and stripped-back closing 'Bright Autumn' peddles a likeable minimalism and briefly recalls Shearwater's early stuff or the Tindersticks at their most minimal and introverted. Certainly not a bad thing in the long run.
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The EP'S epic tune is 'All Without Leave', where the storyline apparently involves a musical inventor's love affair and reports of trees growing through abandoned Detroit libraries. I can't vouch for that, but I can say the track lurches from stark and undernourished to loud and penetrating in memorable style and the Slint-y experimentalism suits it.
Magpie Wedding present us with music that's a riddle within an enigma. It's thought provoking and veers away from the obvious without sacrificing all vestiges of melody, something which is surely to their credit. Like their namesakes, they are capable of collecting silver and gold from the unlikeliest sources, so let's hope they continue to swoop.
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