Laconic EP CD

Laconic are a band who were brought to my attention by the South Yorkshire photographer Duncan Mangham. Jenny Bailey is the daughter of one of his old friends so Duncan duly asked me to look at her band Laconic and I am so pleased that I did.

Jenny is the songwriter/acoustic guitarist/keyboardist/and vocalist and she is supremely talented at all these disciplines. She has surrounded herself with some excellent musicians from the Wath upon Dearne/Mexborough area who compliment her perfectly in the musical sense.

Bassist Michael Law, (son of Mexborough schoolmaster and musician John “The Enforcer” Law), Simon White, the lead guitarist, and percussionist Lee Emmett make up this well balanced band.

The band’s manager, Rebecca Porter asked if I might review Laconic’s 3 track Promo CD. Naturally I would be pleased to do this, as I am very interested in the bands progress. This is what I thought to the CD:-

The first track is entitled The Night You Came To Me. The song starts with Jenny’s pleasingly nasal vocals accompanied by a nicely strummed, bright sounding acoustic guitar giving way after the first 8 bars to a signal from Lee Emmett’s drum kit for the bass and the catting wah wah of Sime White’s electric guitar to come in. The song progresses with a minor key feeling and strangely it reminds me of the 1992 mega hit from Tasmin Archer, Sleeping Satellite. That’s how good this song is .I love the wah and the organ fills too. As the song progresses with Jenny’s beautifully phrased vocals and Sime White’s 7 note guitar theme, Jenny eventually repeats “I’ll make you believe” in a very despairing feminine growl. This is the outro and there is something distinctly attractive in the way Jenny phrases her angst. The outro is a very full sounding passage and the song is simply outstanding.

Track two, entitled Be My Nightime, is an atmospheric, slow tempo, moody composition showcasing Jenny’s dynamic vocal range, but mostly in the higher register. Michael Law’s bass provides a melodic ultra low register bedrock, Lee Emmett’s percussion keeps the rhythm with a staccato snare, and Sime White’s digital delay/reverb flavoured guitar provides the film score styled theme with the occasional wah wah. Excellent! This track would suit Sade perhaps, although she would be hard pressed to improve upon it. However, I doubt if it would be possible to improve this track in any way.

A menacing bass line introduces the final offering. Rapture Falling is a cracking composition. Again, a minor key feel to start with, then Jenny’s fabulously dynamic and brilliantly phrased vocals take us into the song for two minutes before Lee Emmett signals a quickening of the pace. Jenny suddenly sounds like Stevie Nicks. What a wonderful singer Jenny is. The song slows in pace  before the drums come in again in a flurry and the tempo speeds up once more. Michael Law’s bass sounds superb beneath the relaxed chorus-sounding guitar chords of Sime White, lasting one bar per chord. As the ending builds and builds it is quite exciting, full of the anxious sounding chords to the finish. A brilliant song, with intelligent lyrics, a perfect rhythm section, and fabulous vocals. The vocal quality alone is fine but a good singer must be able to phrase well too, after all, speech would be boring without accent. There are no worries with Jenny's vocals, she excels in every way. This song is another one to keep repeating on the player!

To summarise, I feel the songs on this CD are exceptional. This CD is also a promotional vehicle for Laconic's  first single release. The recording is well produced and balanced, as well as being nicely presented. This band must be picked up and promoted, they are very special indeed. The musicians should also feel very proud of their endeavours, for they have produced a highly commendable collection of potentially classic works.

Steve Lally