Never seen a Strangernight

Jenny Reeve has managed to build quite the CV during her travails in the Scottish indie music scene. A vocal performance on a Reindeer Section album track (Fire Bell) led to a position as touring violinist with Arab Strap (in the company of three quarters of Sons & Daughters), and more recently other musical appearances with Scottish heavyweights Idlewild and Mogwai. Besides this she has also written and performed music with her own bands Eva and Reeve, but it seems to be her third attempt, Strike The Colours, which is begininng to find its own feet.

Steeped in melancholy (a common theme for any self-respecting Scottish band), the songs of Strike The Colours are soon to be brought together into a mini-LP (that's an EP, right?) called The Face That Sunk A Thousand Ships. However, it is Reeve's voice, ringing with purity that does the sinking here. An acknowledged recluse on stage, her vocals ring out with strength and poignancy across all of her output, and this latest work is no different.

Strangernight is available for download on their myspace and is their strongest offering yet. Richly instrumented, it was recorded as a demo with members of Union of Knives and features sounds more typical of current Scandanavian indie, its guitars shimmering in a blanket of chorus and delay. The vocal performance is just as pronounced as it echos the chiming guitars, carrying power and passion. The later harmonies are beautiful and really help carry the song to its heart-breaking climax as she implores us to get out of here again. It is a wonderful tapestry of music and vocal interplay which creates a scene steeped in atmospherics, almost spine-tingling at times.

I would also recommend the hauntingly beautiful Safety In Numbers which was recorded on an 8 track recorder at her home in 2005 and is available as a download on the band's website.

The EP will be released on Monday June 18th and the band are currently touring with Malcolm Middleton.