GLASS ANKLE - EP REVIEW

Glass Ankle - Fragments EP (Sleeper Train Records) 
Glass Ankle - Fragments EP

Release Date: 7th April 2014

Danny, Chika, Samir, Greg and Charlotte are five ordinary looking guys and girls from the North-West of England producing psyche-folk music. Those are the facts, all the rest is pure opinion. This six track collection from the Mancunians starts with the light and airy 'Poor Boy' which has a Belle & Sebastian delicate touch as the Ukulele strums, the strings pluck and the clarinet swoons. However things take a turn for the sombre on 'Secondary Now' which sounds like Radiohead having a bash at 'A Space Oddity' with Keane on production duties. The age of digital music has evened up the playing field and made it possible for more musicians to experiment which is, I think, why we are now seeing an increasing number of secret tracks or interludes on digital releases, such as the stutteringly sinister string work on 'Fragment'.

There are some lazy beats and woozy Cello on 'Unlike You' which is either a song about using Facebook or someone of an incomparable nature - either way it's a luscious but oddly bleak piece of music. And that seems to be where Glass Ankle excel, in the half light between the darkness of the heart and lightness of the love it can contain. 'Fleeting' is another psyched out interlude that leads us in to the final track in the shape of 'One Of Them', a bluesy, countrified acoustic pick that takes a turn towards Sparks or Roxy Music as it builds towards a fitting crescendo and even a guitar solo. The only nagging feeling I have is that I have come across this band somewhere before but I cannot for the life of me think where. I must be getting old....

More information: http://glassankle.com/

Live Dates:

12th April - The Spice Of Life, London
19th April - Gulliver's, Manchester
25th April - The Young Pretender, Congleton
1st May - Pearly Jams @ The Green Room, Sheffield

21st June - Ravenstonedale Festival, Eden Valley

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