The band has been around for about 2 years now. After changing their name a couple of times they eventually signed to Bella Union. In their two years of existence, the Manchester four-piece have not only put out music but also visual and written art that their exhibited in their hometown. Pretty hyped in the UK by now, their UK tour sold out within minutes.
Recorded in London through the deep, dark winter of 2012/13, Shadow Of Heaven is an ethereal, transcendent record that’s notable for its musical and intellectual ambition. It’s the kind of music that can be hard to listen to. It really is one of those things that you need to be in the right mood for and that can’t be listened to on the side. The two singles Hold Me Forever, which I find reminiscent of Scottish act Glasvegas, and Bluebell Fields are the more radio friendly material on the album while most of the rest are solomn piano ballads with lyrics heavy with meaning (Black, Goodnight London) or heavily orchestrated hymns (Shadow Of Heaven).
If I had to describe their sound it would be somewhere along the lines of those solemn ballads The 1975 did for their first EPs, Man Without Country if they weren’t electronic, or Joy Division if they’d played slower and stripped the guitars. Others have compared them to Wu Lyf.
If you can see past the pretentious ambition of M O N E Y and you’re into this type of music, Shadow Of Heaven certainly is a great choice. Shadow Of Heaven is out on August 26th.