Kyte - Two Sparks, Two Stars EP

I’m an unashamed lover of Kyte’s cinematic style and otherworldly music. The seemingly simple way they build songs from a few glockenspiel notes and piano chords into a quiet roar of Nordic sounding majesty is utterly spellbinding. They really do evoke a twilight fairytale world of mystery populated by curious sounds and emotions which seems perfectly at home as winter draws in.

The orchestrated sound of Two Sparks, Two Stars sees a progression from the band’s more precise eponymous mini album earlier in the year which was much more about the cyclical building of tracks upon tracks and for all the album's beauty, and it is a thing of aching beauty, this EP shows the band with more dimensions, more experimental yet retaining their ability to write superbly lush songs like opener Eyes Lose Their Fire.

Not that it’s all their own work. The cover of Peter Gabriel’s Solsbury Hill will probably sneak up on a fair few people as it’s so perfectly molded into the Kyte oevre that it takes a little time to actually realize it’s not their own tune, a rare thing to achieve well and rarer still with a familiar song.

Of the EP’s four tracks it the final installment Light Outside Here which tugs on the seasonal heart strings most of all. Not for any specific Christmassy references though simply down to it's texture and ambience. Kyte make you want to curl up in front of a warm fire and dream impossible dreams.


www.myspace.com/kyteband
www.mekongdelta.co.uk

Kyte, Sona Di, Mariposa - Live: 14th Jul 2010

Having seen Mariposa a fair few times I know how inspirational and challenging they can be to ‘get in to’. A cold venue with only a dozen other souls for company only adds to the challenge and tonight for all the intense layering and rhythmic building of their set by the time Holly and Matt are done, their crescendo ringing off the walls, I’m still not quite there. Mariposa’s music I’ve found relies heavily on context, and personal mood where I’m concerned and tonight that bit of chemistry just wasn’t apparent. I blame myself.

Sona Di are a trio who you feel are still defining their own sound. They produce a set tonight which is very familiar to anyone aware of the post-rock bands like Explosions in the Sky or Mogwai for instance and whilst they’re rough and raw and undisciplined – in a good way – they don’t simply ape these bands. Tonight I get the impression they’re trying to break into something different and attempt something new. I’m not sure what that might be and I doubt they’re too sure either right now but the potential is there all the same.

So tonight’s headliners are Kyte a five piece from Leicestershire who have already moved out to a wider consciousness despite very humble and gentle demeanours. The bulk of their set covers their recent self-titled mini album. Time doesn’t appear to be on their side as they seem to rip through the material whereas on CD the songs are given space to breathe a bit more. “Sunlight”, “Secular Ventures” and “Boundaries” are the standouts musically. The sparse crowd whoops and hollers enthusiastically and the band seem genuinely shy in receiving the applause but there’s some great material to come in future so that's definitely something they'll have to get used to.

www.myspace.com/kyteband
www.mekongdelta.co.uk