The Melodic at Rough Trade West

New and exciting music is emerging out of every crack and crevice across the world; there’s so much of it out there, it’s simply too difficult to find the time of day to hear it all. However, there’s an act from south London that you simply need to hear – The Melodic. The four-piece – aided by their pal Jon with a solitary drum – took to Rough Trade West on Tuesday evening, in a truly beautiful and intimate acoustic set to showcase their debut album Effra Parade.

The set-up is the most noticeable thing as you walk into Rough Trade, if you’re ignoring the walls artfully covered in album art spanning anything from three weeks to three decades ago: it’s almost all acoustic. The only electric instrument is a bass, saddled slightly to the side with a snare drum. Combined with a charango, an autoharp, and not one but two melodicas – not to mention an acoustic guitar – it’s a safe bet to say this Brixton band have pegged down a unique sound that they’re all too happy to claim as their own and bring to an audience.

Devoid of microphones and almost devoid of amplification, the band are completely and utterly lost to their music, enjoying their (regrettably) short set as much as their audience. It’s a rare thing to see a band so free whilst performing, dancing and sharing laughs in between picking up the odd capo or tuning before announcing the next song to the crowd.

Their first track sets the enlivening pace of the evening, with thumping feet on the floor in lieu of a bass drum and beautifully harmonious vocals from guitarist Huw, paired with Lydia, the autoharpist. The band move together like a well-oiled machine – of course, if the input of said machine is four relatively juxtaposing instruments, and the output in question is a delightfully splendid conglomeration of folk, flamenco and world music. They continue through their six-song set, coalescing into a euphonious and all round refreshing, new-fangled half hour.

Hannah Ross 

For more information and future events visit The Melodic’s website here.

Watch the video for Runaway here: