Oct 31, 2010

October 31st, 2010 • News

South London based Alpines are the new-ish project of former solo artist Catherine Pockson, and Bob Matthews, previously of indie bands such as Right Turn Left and Blue Screen Life (RIP). As far as we can see, the duo started making dark and mysterious electro-pop some time earlier this year, and judging by the demos currently available online, the results are nothing less than impressive.

Intentional or not, their sound is remarkably ‘current’, and should have no problem sitting in the Hype Machine charts or being pigeon-holed alongside the likes of Mercury Prize victors The xx, Zola Jesus and La Roux. Musically, the tracks are spacious and are based around Pockson’s arresting vocals, which are as head turning as the first time we hear Florence The Machine’s ‘Kiss With A Fist’ or La Roux’s ‘Quicksand’. Most importantly, the songs have hooks sturdy enough to be timeless, and should keep punters interested after the spotlight moves elsewhere and it’s decided by the taste-makers that we should all be listening to something else completely.

It’s perhaps unsurprising then that Alpines have very recently signed a major deal with Polydor, which should mean we’ll be seeing plenty more of them in 2011. Indeed, we don’t imagine it’ll be long before they’re adorning billboards on your local A road, as well as life size posters at busy Tube stations. Before all that though, you can get ahead of the game and download ‘Survival’ for free from their Bandcamp page.

Tags: Alpines, Bob Matthews, Catherine Pockson, Electro pop, Polydor, Survival