Hands up if you want to see about twenty people playing a Linda Ronstadt cover? Of course you do.
Blochestra are crammed onto the Mono stage with just about every instrument you can imagine and Admiral Fallow’s Louis Abbott leading proceedings from the back.
It’s a great musical experiement and their mixture of covers and original material is the perfect primer to a headline set.
French Wives have emerged from putting the finishing touches to their album for this launch and it’s the new tracks that are of most interest tonight.
It’s difficult to form a solid opinion from a first listen but tracks like ‘Younger’, which closes the set, sound like an accomplished next step from a band that’s always sought to push their music forward.
The old favourites go down well in the venue but it’s the single that we are here to celebrate.
Sometimes the single is the exception from the album, ‘the radio friendly one’ or ‘the poppy one’.
‘Numbers’ is more of a French Wives footprint, far from the exception, it’s a shining example of what they do best.
The poppy elements are there, big choruses and a joyous energy. But then there are the added French Wives flourishes; the violin, shifts in gear and the stop-start structure.
It also benefits from a fantastic video which is worth viewing below made in collaboration with Glasgow based Sync or Swim Productions:
Words: Alastair Mitchell
Photos: Stewart Fullerton
Numbers is available to download now. Visit http://frenchwives.co.uk/ for more information.
