Epic45 - In All The Empty Houses EP (2009) (AWESOME !!!)

Genre : Electronica, Ambient, Cinematic, Shoegaze, Post-rock, UK
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Tracklist :

01 – We Were Never Here
02 – Daylight Ghosts
03 – In All The Empty Houses
04 – The Future Is Blinding
05 – Their Voices In The Rafters
06 – Ghosts On Tape

Epic45 joined together as a band in 1995 in high school but only began playing live and recording tracks to tape in 1998. From there they have gone on to record tracks for almost 20 releases (including splits with Laudanum, 100 Pets and Avaray) and done remixes for people such as Portal and Glider. They now have four full albums released, the latest being “May Your Heart Be The Map”, released on Make Mine Records in July 2007.

Trying to review ‘In All The Empty Houses’ by Epic 45 is a rather difficult exercise, a band it’s awfully hard to categorise. They straddle the divide between tender melancholy pop & chiming, atmospheric post rock, definitely within the realms of the sound universe created by bands such as Disco Inferno, Bark Psychosis & Hood but more dreamy, and less edgy with a very gentle dynamic. The bass lines thrum & bob searchingly as wistful, chiming guitarscapes & homely swathes of subtle electronics are enveloped by a wistful half-spoken vocal. They seem to me very sensual in their approach, creating mini…erm “epics” of melancholy, immaculately produced ambient rock with a very British sensibility. I can hear just how they’ve honed their particular brand of audio enlightenment to perfection and it’s quite affirming to hear a band of this calibre at the top of their game. I think the trick with them is to create something comforting & familiar but still distinctive & magical, imbuing their twinkly, chiming structures with a really soothing, layered majesty which at times sounds like the calm after say, 65daysofstatic’s storm, a very satisfying blend of rock & electronic instrumentation with a certain finess. ~NormanRecords

[me]Whoa.. this new EP is beautiful. They changed a lot in this new stuff. A good change. Sounds like a combination between the radio dept. and boards of canada.