Wytch release a trio of singles…..
Jordan Watts and his team of Psychedelic Rockers have been busy in the studio putting together a trio of singles, which will eventually form part of the band’s self-titled debut album. Originating from the South Coast the band blend influences from the 1970’s with synthesizers and ethereal vocals.
The quartet’s debut gig was a momentous occasion at the Lighthouse in Poole, where the band pulled out all the stops with a memorable night; thrilling the audience with an impressive opener, particularly frontman Jordan who showed off his flamboyant style and his mercurial vocal delivery. The band recorded the tracks at local music entrepreneur Hawkeye Houlihan’s ‘Oak Studios’ in rural Lytchett Matravers in Dorset.
The first of the singles “Silent Ruin” starts off with some gentle acoustic guitar, before Jordan’s bewitching voice joins to gently serenade us with a Stevie Nicks-style ballad with refined rhythms and an radiant layered guitar solo to enjoy.
Jordan takes up the story of the track: “Silent Ruin is a tender ballad that came predominantly from Chris our other guitar player/singer. Chris was going through a break-up at the time we were recording the album and he came to me with this song he’d written and said he knew it had to be me who sung it. We rearranged bits of it and my aim was to make it a duet to portray both sides of the heartbreak inherent in the lyrics. When it came to recording, our bass player Ray laid down this gorgeous rolling bass part that really captured the defeated trundle in the lyrics, and it was beautifully accompanied by our drummer Simon’s gentle brush work on the drums. Though the song sounds simple, there’s about four guitar parts individually played by myself and Chris and you can hear me on keys as well to create a sound you can fall into which is really our aim for the singles and upcoming album; create a dreamy, witchy sound that envelopes you”.
“Suncatcher” is a gem of a track and the band have certainly pushed the envelope with their creativity, it reminds me a lot of Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain”, clearly the band and their primary members are a huge influence. Once again the band bring some impressive instrumentation along with some expressly pleasing guitar work.
Jordan explains: “Suncatcher is probably one of the most all encompassing Wytch – sounding songs we’ve recorded. It’s got my soft brooding vocals with some thick chorus harmonies; Fender Rhodes electric piano parts, a really plucky resonator guitar, some fantastic drum work from Simon using Rock’s most hated instrument (the cowbell), gorgeous strong basslines from Ray and it sort of builds and builds until the big guitar solo at the end! I distinctly remember writing Suncatcher in my Mum’s garden in Summer time. The sun was shining through this little stained glass hanging decoration whilst I was playing guitar on the grass in the breeze. I remember staring at the fracturing light for ages and this guitar riff just coming out of my fingers whilst I wasn’t really paying attention! Eventually that became Suncatcher (in semi reference to the surroundings when it was written) and then lyrically it was built around my boyfriend who was having a terribly difficult time sleeping and we were both so busy I didn’t see him often and I missed him. The lyrics, in my typically veiled way; refer to two lovers as the Sun and the Moon, always to cross paths but never to find each other. It’s my signature morose outlook on life haha”.
The final track of the trio takes us further back in time and has a medieval feel to it, it’s a Folk song with a difference. The composition has a majestic feel to it; this number features some really beautiful vocals with Jordan and Chris combining with an elevated effect, it almost feels like it is a love theme for Maid Marian and Robin Hood.
Frontman Jordan tells the story of the tune: “As I’m sure is obvious, we take influence from our favourite sounds of the 70’s, which usually translates to the laid back Southern California sound but with some broody elements due in part to my lyrics and vocal delivery.
With “The Archer” however, at the time I wrote it I was listening to a lot of Folk music (circa the mid 70’s) where there was this revival of Folk with a Medieval English influence (bands like Pentangle, Fairport Convention and Simon and Garfunkel) and I just thought that random five year span where everyone decided to put on tights and write songs like a court minstrel was fantastic, so I wanted to offer my take on it. Lyrically the ‘lonely white archer’ was based on myself (white being a reference to my stage outfits which are usually all white), and sort of told the tale of chasing happiness at all costs. The song musically is fairly simple with a swaying feeling, just guitars and orchestra strings which I sat and wrote out the sheet music for with a view to one day having a proper chamber orchestra accompany us on stage! It’s always been my dream to perform with an orchestra and this was always the song I felt we could do that with! The song ends with a crescendo of the whole band joining in and then fading out to the string part again, which we’d decided we wanted to sound as if it were playing on a distant mountain top”.
It’s a huge departure from Jordan’s last project and it is clear that a good deal of time and care has been taken in the creation of these tunes. He has surrounded himself with three musicians that all really compliment his style. They have a sound like no other current band have to offer and it is quite refreshing to hear them trying to do something truly different.
Video
Wytch are
Jordan Watts: Guitar/Vocals
Simon Edwards: Drums
Ray Holford: Bass
Chris Davies: guitar/Keyboards/Vocals
Links
https://linktr.ee/WytchOfficial
Article by David Chinery (Chinners)
