We've been listening to the original 'Tellicherry' by St. Barbe - guitarist James Maltby with bass guitarist Edwin Ireland and drummer Floyer Sydenham the band already with an EP called Shapeless and another single 'Noumena' under their belts. It's a fresh sound - initially we were thinking Bill Frisell a little as the sound lands in the same kind of idiom as the US master although Maltby's guitar sound timbre is pretty different and yet a stripped back warped Americana feel is part of the pervasive flavour.
As the volume and rockist blare transform the piece 'Tellicherry' shows a chameleon-like evolution. Stabby chords change the mood and feel interestingly in a more prog direction reached via a maze-like circuit of motific phrases stacking up. Ultimately the guitar forcefield moves the whole trajectory of the piece to a more anarchic world of distortion.
- St. Barbe launch 'Tellicherry' at Hackney Wick space Grow in east London on Wednesday 23 November
We can't share 'Tellicherry' at the moment - but check out the already released, very different, stimulating Gnawa influenced 'Noumena' for a flavour of another aspect of what St. Barbe can do
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