Trespassers William – The Natural Order of Things EP
I don’t know how Trespassers William have slipped under my radar for so long, but now that they call Gizeh Records home, they’re unlikely to remain unnoticed by many who have their musical radar fine-tuned to great bands of all stripes. This five-track, 25-minute EP is spacious, stripped-down dream-pop of a deeply emotive kind, leaving the listener hungry for more.
Opener ‘Sparrow’ fades in on a lumbering drum beat before Anna-Lynne Williams’ gorgeous vocals send shivers up the spine. Chiming guitars flash and fade and the chorus swells into life, taking the breath away. The song threatens to melt into the ether during an ambient interlude, then erupts into life again. Another verse, another chorus, then it really does melt away in a disorientating cloud of tremolo guitar swirls and echoed voices.
‘The Lids’ is a simple yet devastatingly effective piece featuring organ, eerie chattering, tom-tom, sparse guitar lines, and Williams’ ever-perfect vocal delivery. As she harmonises with herself, the effect is akin to hearing Hope Sandoval at her most lovelorn. Heartbreaking. For the most part, centrepiece ‘Red’ is probably the most conventional-sounding song, swaying between two chords and some delayed guitar stabs, but the chorus elevates the song into pseudo-MBV territory.
Like ‘The Lids’, ‘Catch Not Break’ is minimal in execution, this time swimming in aquatic modulation and delay, creating a woozily wonderful lullaby. Then finale ‘I Could Go Back’ sways between a trip-hop verse and vibrato guitar abuse as it builds, carrying the EP into the stratosphere.
Lush yet minimal, elegant and poised yet threatening to erupt into chaos at any moment, this is probably Gizeh’s finest release yet – and a perfectly formed one at that. Back catalogue, here I come…