Recently, Whisperin' & Hollerin' were suitably blown away by LA-based The Meeting Places' astonishing debut "Meet Yourself Along The Way", noting that here were a band who seemed to have finally located the keys to the dreampop kingdom that seemed to evaporate when dreadful terms like 'shoegazing' began to flood the market. Brrr.
In their own, distinct way, Norwich's FIEL GARVIE have also got their fingers on the notoriously deceptive dream pop pulse and "Leave Me Out Of This" sounds pretty damn refreshing as there's precious little of this kind of thing currently doing the rounds out there.
I plead total ignorance of FG's debut album ("Vuka! Vuka!") as I never heard it, but certainly "Leave Me Out Of This" is a positive place to start getting acquainted as it features 11 (mostly) languid examples of brittle, but attractive pop, with the emphasis very much on songs rather than experimentation, sleepily seductive vocals from Anne Reekie and the kind of chiming guitars that used to be praised before 'indie' became a wholesale dirty word.
It's by no means a mirror image, but the record "Leave Me Out Of This" most resembles - in this reviewer's mind - is Mazzy Star's superb debut "She Hangs Brightly". Songs like "I Didn't Say" have that same distant, slightly sinister carnival feel, while "Got A Reason" also recalls the third Velvet Underground album, down to the Mo Tucker pounding, strung out vocals/ atmosphere and the strangely heroic cowbells. It rocks in an opiated fashion and is very good, as is the sparse, but unimpeachably lovely "Caught On."
If I was to pick holes, the main problem with "Leave Me Out Of This" would be that perhaps too many tracks float in and remain becalmed at the same woozy pace, although there are several tracks here that suggest Fiel Garvie can succeed when they branch out a little. "Talking A Hole In My Head", for instance, begins by reprising the helicopter blades last heard whirring on Michael Weston King's recent album and begins simple and hollow before flexing surprising muscle and mutating into something unusually visceral, while "Reeling As You Come Around" goes to the other extreme and goes ever inward. The very embodiment of regret and being battered by emotions, but still feeling open to further heartbreak, it features Anne Reekie singing "I don't suppose you'll fall for me again" in the loneliest of voices, while the tempation inside her heart is palpable.
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Perhaps best of all, though, is "Doortime". The vocals are virtually soporific on this one, while the subtle use of mellotron adds a Spectorian quality that can't fail to attract. Inventive and slyly passionate, in a nutshell you could describe it as an epic on a shoestring.
Fiel Garvie are an interesting prospect and "Leave Me Out Of Here" wears its' emotional scars with dignity,pride and intrigue. Their sound is a thing of troubled beauty which will have no problem connecting with the discerning out there. Further instalments will be most welcome.
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