Laughter mp3 eagleowl  “Sleep The Winter” 7″

I’ve been following this little group from Edinburgh for quite some time now and yet I’ve not written about them here yet. (Unfortunately, that’s a sentence you’re going to read a few times this season before the new year!) But here goes! You all know how I troll over at Matthew’s blog, Song, by Toad and it’s there that I’ve met some really amazing musician friends. One such person is Bart Owl who has become forevermore cemented in my mind as local “bandwhore” because it really does seem that he’s in just about every indie band in that damn town!
The group that perhaps is closest to his heart (correct me if I’m wrong here, Bart) is eagleowl.

And this wonderful, lo-fi, folk band has just this month released a 7″ single… well, they’re launching it in December but we’ve all heard it by now. It’s perfectly, exactly, wondrously, what eagleowl is all about: stepping back, taking one’s time, having a breather, listening to what’s going on in a quiet room with those you really do wish to hear. It’s full of rich contrabass (which I always mistake for a cello), violin, guitar, mandolin, melodica and all the layers of sad-drawn out vocals that draw me to Scottish music. eagleowl is not some mamby-pamby, reedy thin, excuse for not being able to rock out, however. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that they play this thoughtful kind of music because they lack the talent to do something you think of as “loud.” On the contrary, eagleowl’s version of folk has a real backbone to it; it stands up tall and respectfully grants you it’s time. Clarissa’s vocals are clear and solid, to match the instrumentation, not to hide behind it. And the harmonies she makes with Bart’s brooding voice are more than beautiful. I’m simply smitten.

How apropos that this single is about winter? I crack a smile just typing that out because it’s all so bleak and at the same time so warm and poignant. You know that feeling you get when you’re inside next to a warm fire and looking out the window over the bare fields? I grew up in the country, I remember that well. Yes, I love this single, I’m aching to hear the new LP. And if you didn’t get a copy of their debut For The Thoughts You Never Had, shame on you! They sold out. It’s gone! (I bet you can still get mp3s tho.) Here’s all the details you need:

• The “Sleep The Winter” 7” single will be launched with a show at The Bowery
  (2 Roxburgh Place, Edinburgh, EH8 9SU) on Friday, December 11th. Doors open at
  7.30, entry is £5, and early arrival is strongly advised, so’s not to miss the amazing
  special guests.
• From December 14th the single will be available from select independent record
  stores, and to order via eagleowl’s website and via Kilterschmilter
• “Sleep The Winter” is the first release from brand new musical operation Kilter – a new
  project for long-time live music propagators Tracer Trails.
• The single is due to be followed in the new year by eagleowl’s second EP.