Sometimes it’s easy to imagine artists the we admire as superheroes. By day, Simon Housley and Tom Honey may go about their business in mild-mannered, unassuming fashion but when it comes to music they become the fantastically-named Oathless and Good Weather For An Airstrike; both releasing ambient works with a pleasingly hopeful outlook.
The beginning to ‘Sol’ is blissful and evokes feelings of being transported to a higher plane. The instrumental framework of slow beats and keyboard washes set out by Honey and Housley should be dreamy enough but Jamie Brett’s angelic vocal performance lifts the song even higher into the clouds. The chilled-out vibe continues for the weightless ‘Your Childhood Races Towards You’ but just when you think the EP is drifting into relaxation therapy territory, ‘Fragment’ appears, casting its melancholic spell with indecipherable dialogue and haunted piano keys. This turns out to be the catalyst for change. ‘What Are You Doing, Lyla?’ builds on drones and expands from minimalism to layers of carefully manicured noise whilst ‘Through The Iris’, the last track, is a combination of what has gone before; on the one hand heavenly vocals and dreamy soundscapes but on the other a darker, mysterious edge prevails.
All of this makes for a fascinating half hour’s listening where Housley, Honey and Brett prove that these gifted performers are stronger together than apart. In a field where musicians often prefer to work alone, this is a great case for collaborative working.
Web Sites:
Bandcamp Stream of ‘Sol’
Further Listening:
Melorman
Leonard's Lair Music Reviews 
0 Responses to “Review: Oathless & Good Weather For An Airstrike – Sol”