Last time I spoke to Narrow Plains the band where in the waiting period, between recording the album and its release scheduled for this year. I have waited along time for this album, and now its finally here.
Its been a week since Narrow Plains released their self titled debut album and still I adore it. Containing a mix of previously heard songs, BBC's Track Of The Day and brand new material, this album is going to remain as favourite this year.
Signed to Smart Indie Records, the band have done well for themselves since forming in 2012, winning Hard Rock Rising in London and spent time recording with John Davenport, who has worked with John Lennon, Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen.
The bands sound is influenced by the likes of Ben Howard and Mumford and Sons, which you can read more about here. Although the band are influenced by such acts, they have developed their own sound which comes across incredibly on their album. As a debut, it is incredible. It sets out the bands sound and draws the listener into the world of Narrow Plains, built up of love, heartbreak, vulnerability, gorgeous vocals and lyrics which make you evaluate your own relationships with people.
The album is capturing from start to finish. Thirteen tracks of
incredible vocals and acoustic bliss with an almost addicting quality,
where you want the album to continue on past the one hour mark. Opening
with the fast paced 'Restless Mind', following through with the BBC Introducing's Track Of The Day 'So Rewind, onto tracks such as Keep You Away
and Ghost to the final track Take Me Back, you are enraptured by this
albums beauty and delicateness in places.
I don't have one favourite track from this album. Its too difficult to narrow it down to one song, so I've narrowed it down to 3. Two are my past favourites which I am so glad were put onto this album, So Rewind and Running To Your Door. Running To Your Door features on the bands last EP, Somewhere In Between, which I adore also.
My third favourite track from this album is Ghost. Its the song I fell in love with the most since listening to this album, and with lyrics like "I'll be your ghost. I'll be right here when you need me the most", I think its easy to see why I like this song lyrically.
I have other favourite songs by this band, such as Seventeen, which aren’t included on this album, which is slightly a shame but also they belong to the EP they were released part of. They are part of the build up to this debut album.
The album itself is out now physically. It was released on the 22nd of January. On Itunes the album isn't released until the 14th of February this year, which is just more than two weeks away. This is one of the few times physical albums prove to be superior to digital downloads, its physically released three weeks early and you can have it to hold forever.
Some of the biggest UK summer festival line ups are being announced and I am hoping to come across this band a few times this year. As ever I am desperate for a tour and cannot wait to see what is next for this band.
This debut is only the start.