Ren Harvieu #4 - Do Right By Me

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The stunning voice of Ren Harvieu hasn't been blogged here since we had a mini falling out in May when Ren was scheduled to play at Brighton's The Great Escape, I even turned up at the venue but Ren did not, I don't know the reason but it was apparent before her slot time that Ren's performance had been removed from the schedule. It happened to be the same week she had played Jools Holland and I can imagine going from that to a grotty first floor pub in Brighton within a few days of each other didn't quite fit with her management teams 'vision'.

Anyway enough wild accusations, I jest about our 'falling out', the simple reason for the drought was I completely missed the third single to be taken from Ren's debut full-length Through The Night "Tonight", which came out back in July. I'm not quite as slow on the uptake on her next though, the equally sublime "Do Right By Me"...

With Ren's distinctive, haunting voice at the helm it's nostalgic wrapped grandiose pop of the finest order, sure there is major label backing and a team of people guiding Ren's career but I don't give two hoots about that when the her personality blossoms through regardless. I personally believe her one of the best voices to emerge in recent times. Elegant, powerfully chilling and gorgeous. Watch the video to "Do Right By Me" below.

If that wasn't enough, check out a couple of goose-bump inducing live video's here and here and see the real thing when Ren tour's the UK in October - dates.

The Great Escape 2012 - Preview (Part One) Thursday

The Great Escape Website

It's now just a fortnight until The Great Escape, I'm already excited, I said in my review last year that 2011 was the best yet (I've been to four) and 2012 has the potential to be even better with more venues, more lunch time shows and more bands than ever before, over 30 venues with over 300 bands crammed into three days in the wonderful city of Brighton.

Sounds fun right? It is. Running from Thursday 10th to Saturday 12th of May there are so many incredible acts that I've decided to preview in three parts, split by day, I'll pick what I think is the best of what The Great Escape and the Alternative Escape has to offer.I was going to limit myself to six a day but in the end I couldn't narrow it down so I've gone with seven a day, which still misses out a few bands I'd like to catch... So much choice for one weekend.

We Were Evergreen - Facebook
Komedia (Studio Bar), Thursday 10th May 13.30
Komedia (Studio Bar), Thursday 10th May 21.15
The Hub, Jubilee Square, Friday 11th May 16.00

This French/London trio will be the perfect way to get your Great Escape weekend going in fine fashion, with hopefully beautiful sunshine providing the platform for their bright and breezy male/female harmonies and tropical synth/ukulele/glockenspiel  melodies. Cute and bouncy for sure, We Were Evergreen are here to bring some their fun-filled, infectious songcraft to your weekend, one that will be all the better for it.

Shinies - Facebook
The Hydrant, Thursday 10th May 16.00 (Alt-Escape)
Queens Hotel, Friday 11th May 20.30

I'll be tipping a few Manchester bands in my previews, there is an undeniably excitement around numerous bands coming out of the North-West at the minute, more so than in recent memory. One of the reasons are Shinies who've been caught up in a whirlwind of acclaim since they released debut demo "Spent Youth" six months or so, with distorted noise-pop guitars, fast-paced drums and echoed vocals "Spent Youth" and its b-side "Shola" are good enough to make sure you spend your Thursday afternoon mingling with numerous A&R guys seeing if this trio are as good in the flesh.

Ren Harvieu - Facebook
The Loft, Thursday 10th May 18.30

An unusual timing for one of the days must-see acts, Ren Harvieu first featured on this blog exactly one year ago today and now a few weeks away from the release of her debut album she is ready to finally dominate the stereos of household around the world.

Armed with a voice to die for her melodramatic ballads soaked in sweeping string orchestration and nostalgia are simply sublime.I've said this before but Ren's cover of The Rolling Stone's "Sister Morphine" is spine-tingling good. A queen will be crowned, make sure you're in the audience.

Deaf Club - Facebook
Green Door Store, Thursday 10th May 20.00

Wales/London five piece Deaf Club are a bit different to the acts I've covered so far, their beautifully expansive guitar led sound is something I'm very much looking forward to catching over the weekend, I've flirted with seeing them before but this will be the moment I finally do.

Their sold-out tape via Kissability (who host their show at The Great Escape) highlights their beautiful soundscapes, soaring, shimmering guitars interwoven with forlorn drum melodies and the brooding vocals of Polly Mackey. Gorgeous.

Cut Ribbons - Facebook
Green Door Store, Thursday 10th May 20.45

Sticking at the same venue, the next band up are Llanelli ;based Cut Ribbons, whose punchy stadium-sized indie-rock will fill the small(ish) Brighton venue with glistening guitars and dual vocal harmonies.

Their pretty, melodious hooks are polished and will surely result in a few pints of lager being spilled as people bounce around with joy.

Hannah Cohen - Facebook
Unitarian Church, Thursday 10th May 22.00

Another of Thursday's not to be missed acts is Hannah Cohen, this will only be her second ever UK show (after playing in London the night before) from (as I said just a couple of days ago) one of 2012's best new voices.

Guaranteed to something quite spectacular, just like her album 'Child Bride', her sensational voice and elegant instrumentation will leave many hearts aflutter. A truly beautiful venue too. Can't wait for this one.

Toy - Facebook
Pavilion Theatre, Thursday 10th May 22.45

I've not got too much to add to what I've said a couple of times about Toy in the month or so, displaying almost as much hair as talent, the London five piece summed up the buzz with "Left Myself Behind", an eight minute runaway rollercoaster that combines the best bits of psyche, krautrock and shoegaze in one glorious track, gorgeous shimmering guitars duel with the korg keys and consistent drum beats, to keep it simple, it's one of the essential tracks of the last six months from one of the UK's hottest new properties. Truly superb, hard, dense, melodic, brilliant.

Ren Harvieu #3 - Open Up Your Arms / Covers

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This is the first time I've featured Ren Harvieu since her deserved spot in the (besides Niki & The Dove not particularly to my taste) BBC Sound of 2012 Poll, the reason for the delay simple, it took until last week to hear new material from her (released in the form of her new single "Open Up Your Arms"). Perhaps the poppiest track we've heard from Ren thus far, there is certainly less of the smooth, soul grove that sheens on "Through the Night" or restrained beauty that is "Forever In Blue".

Nevertheless "Open Up Your Arms" is a gorgeous, melodramatic ballad that peaks with soaring orchestrated arrangements, backing choir and saxophone, her voice is (of course) what shines through, delivering where few have recently, I'd go so far to say she's got the strongest voice in pop today (I'm sure some Adele fans might disagree). Whether Ren's music is a little too nostalgic jazz club for the mainstream is yet to be seen but I can't help but think super stardom beckons (though I did say that 11 months ago now)...

I've also included two 'new' covers, Ren first caught the attention of many with her cover of a legendary song, "Cryin'" by Roy Orbison and since she's tackled two more, "Something" by The Beatles and "Sister Morphine" by The Rolling Stones, both bold choices. On the former you get to hear a bit of her (typical) Northern accent before with seeming effortless ease she tackles the track, her rich and smooth (and not so typical) vocals backed by gentle acoustic guitar melodies and restrained double bass plucks, its beautiful, understated nature brings out everything I've grown to love about the Lancashire lass. The best though is the latter, a poignant song for Ren given her own battles with a serious spinal injury and subsequent recovery, her version of "Sister Morphine" is nothing short of stunning, stopping you dead in your tracks with her emotional delivery, her voice is simply from the heavens.

'Through The Night' is finally released on April 23rd and can be pre-ordered here. Ren is on tour in early April, the London show is already sold-out (full dates).

Ren Harvieu #2 - Forever in Blue

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Time flies, I can't believe it was as long as April when Ren Harvieu first showed up here, it's been pretty quiet from Ren since (mainly due a spinal injury) but she's now back on track and we've been treated to a couple of tracks to accompany the stunning cover of Roy Orbison's "Cryin'", the song which first alerted me to her.

The latest is "Forever in Blue" and it's good enough to transport you back in time some fifty years, displaying a lonesome vulnerability and poignancy that defy her age of twenty years, what grabs you immediately (even if you're not into this "namby pamby" stuff and prefer your music loud) is Ren's soulful vocals, her rich and smooth voice caresses each and every word, it's exquisite, gentle, understated and undeniably beautiful.

Ren's debut single will be "Through The Night", due for release via Island Records on January 16th 2012, a sublime melodramatic ballad soaked in gorgeous string orchestration and, of course, Ren's voice, big, strong and effortless whether it delivering sensual or powerful notes.

I'm sometime critical of The Guardian and their new music blog (I don't see the point in doing a new band feature on something and slating it or giving this sort of thing exposure) but they got it spot on in their recent 'New band of the day' feature on Ren where they compare her to "the mid-60s era of those solo artists with single names like Dusty, Lulu, Cilla and Sandie and the sort of epic tunes they would have blasted out on Sunday Night at the London Palladium or during a royal command performance". Can you imagine if she was on X Factor singing Dusty Springfield songs, they'd be going mental at women institute coffee mornings all over the country, I'm glad she's not, a more conventional path to stardom should suit the longevity of her career.

Your chance to see Ren playing a pub for possibly the first and last time comes on Thursday 24th October when she plays London's Water Rats (details).

Listen:
Through The Night by Ren Harvieu
Forever In Blue by Ren Harvieu

Ren Harvieu - New Music "Introducing"

I can't give much of a write up because on this post for one simple reason; I literally know as much as this; Ren Harvieu is from Salford and is approximately 20 years old.

What I do know is that she possess a stunning voice, a truly stunning one, highly emotive and powerful as can be seen on the Youtube video, a cover of Roy Orbison's "Cryin'" (I've frankly no idea what's going on with Glasvegas in the video).

The seldom link on her myspace (I thought that was dead already?) gives a hint with a Soundcloud link to Island Records for another track "Through The Night", so I'm guessing she's Island Records main hope for 2012. There's a certain jazz club feel that won't be to everyone's taste I'm sure but the sultry old-school feel to the track is quite magnificent.

REN HARVIEU - THROUGH THE NIGHT by IslandRecordsA&RUK