Chapel Club, a great new band from London, are making great waves on the alternative music scene. When checking them out on YouTube, they've been compared to a great number of bands; Echo & The Bunnymen, The Smiths, The Cure, Joy Division, the list goes on and on, however Chapel Club are in a field of their own.
Lewis Bowman, the lead singer of the band, does follow in the footsteps of the above bands and their lead singers with a distinctively deep-toned voice, but pulls it off in such a relaxed manner, it's effortless.
One of the their songs, The Shore (which is free to download off their website) provides a breathtakingly hypnotic 6-minute masterpiece , building and building before hitting a brilliantly delicious guitar riff. O Maybe I produces something similar to the vocals of Morrissey, talking of the conflicts of life, complete with pulsating guitar riffs, while Surfacing, with the constantly thunderous sound of the drums, provides an eerie feel before delivering a belting chorus. Recently released single All the Eastern Girls shows the bands diversity, able to move away from perhaps more darker, mysterious works to a song with a more lively sound and a catchy chorus to boot.
However, there is more to this band that meets the eye, a freshness that perhaps has not been seen in the music industry recently. Bowman's lyrical inspirations stem from the likes of Ernest Hemingway and Ted Hughes, while the songs aim to look at questions of religion and faith rather than the musical stereotypes of love & sex that are used far too frequently.
Their album, yet to be titled, is set to be released in January, and something which a lot of people will look forward too. This album could potentially make heads turn, what with some of their songs about that look set to make the tracklisting for the album, and could give faith to the shoegazing generation of old, complementing the rise of bands such as Editors and White Lies.
Check them out, buy their songs, listen to the album in January, and if you can, get tickets to the live shows in 2011, they are not to be missed...
