This is the debut from Birmingham based Colossal Apostle. My route to hearing them was via Aaron Bolli-Thompson who I knew from playing onstage keyboards with Rosalie Cunningham. But this is not a solo gig by any means; Colossal Apostle is a band in the fullest sense.
For this song the band were Aaron (vocals, guitar, keyboards, flute), Steve Reddan (guitar), Stuart Collins (bass) and Reece Greenfield (drums) joined by Mark Roberts (guitar) and Sian Greenaway(vocals).
The tin whistle intro and a drone conjures up mystical medieval images. I wondered where they were going to go with this for the rest of the song. What you get is a delightful curveball where that’s replaced by a psychedelic groove vibe with Aaron’s vocals gliding over the top.
It’s a glorious feel-good soaring hazy ride – thoroughly enjoyable. Cleverly the band switch the feel and mood around with a stronger more direct mid section. That gives way to a short but coruscating guitar solo that weaves back into the main melody. The outro packs a great final punch indeed with an ominous riff. The band can and do rock out.
This is an intriguing debut. The lyrics are interesting and thoughtful. The subject of the song is clearly all at sixes and sevens. ‘Is he stalling to stay in the box of his mind – Can it be that the curtain came down this time?’ I like that things are open to interpretation and unsettled. As a whole this song is deceptively simple on first listen but there is a lot going on in the mix which you pick up on with repeat listens.
Listen to it and watch the official video on Youtube.
Buy the song on Bandcamp.