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Hand-screened artwork. Further details tbc. No pre-orders yet.

Release date: June 21st 2009

There’s something inescapable about the weather and the seasons, not only in a very real sense but also as a theme in music. Vivaldi knew it, and there’s a lineage which can be traced through to contemporary pop. Of course, if there’s one time of year which has always captured the imaginations of songwriters more than any other, it’s the summer months and dreams of surfing, sunshine and blissful solitude.

From new Static Brothers and Sisters, Tim and Sam’s Tim and the Sam Band, Summer Solstice is the latest single to be released by this Manchester-based post-folk act. Available as a limited edition 7-inch single and a digital download, the three tracks included here are a comfort blanket of twisting Brit-folk, loping and warm with a melancholy undercurrent. Despite its title, there are undoubtedly traces of autumnal moods on this follow-up to their debut EP, released on Full of Joy Records.

With its rustic tones and enchanting melody, swept along by strings and pulsating drums, the lead track is a folk-pop tour de force, its plaintive piano delicately contrasting with the vibrant feel which prevails. It’s followed by the comparatively hushed Rolling Hills which shimmers like a lullaby, adding a glockenspiel to the bewitching layers of instrumentation. It’s a wonderful concoction which drifts effortlessly on the summer breeze, and recalls Sufjan Stevens in its spine-tingling simplicity.

The four-piece’s sprightly, windswept folk mines a seam which is reminiscent of Fence mainstays such as James Yorkston, while also being a close cousin of Shady Bard. Their slow-burning, pastoral sounds are expansive and littered with psych-folk flourishes, leaving you quietly swooning like watching blossom fall from the trees.

Elbow’s Guy Garvey recently championed the band on his weekly 6 Music “Finest Hour” program. Perhaps its fitting then, that the final track ‘One day Like This’, a cover of the Elbow tune, takes those rousing crescendos and moulds them into a Celtic folk call to arms which gradually builds to a sumptuous climax, uplifting and grandiose amongst the chaos.

As well as Garvey’s support, the band already secured the patronage from Radio One / 6 Music presenters including Huw Stephens; Marc Riley and Tom Robinson. So then a Post Folk Rock Rod Jane and Freddy who are destined to soundtrack ‘goal of the month’ and hip US dramas for years to come. Think Tunng as a school band trying to play Mogwai Fear Satan on found instruments.