Music from Rainy Skies

Manchester is a city with a constant stream of fresh musical talent. The city is lucky in the sense that it very rarely, if not never, produces an absolutely terrible artist. And it is even luckier in the sense that the bands releasing their first EP have the talent to match world class artists. A prime example of this top knotch talent in Manchester is the band; The Hidden Revolution. Their Perfectly Motionless EP1 released on 30th September 2011 already has the blatant ability of a band who should be selling out arenas. As the title of the EP suggests this is the first part to The Hidden Revolution’s recording sessions to be released.

The 20 minute 4-track EP has a soft indie rock musical style, which bares some resemblance to quite a range of artists who may have had an influence over The Hidden Revolution. The band themselves have highlighted a few examples of bands that influence them such as;  Queens Of The Stone Age, Mars Volta, Jeff Buckley and Led Zeppelin, and you can certainly see where these artists have come out through The Hidden Revolution’s experimental indie rhythm and rock beats.

The listener is immediately brought into the Perfectly Motionless EP1 with a sense of eager excitement with the first track; “Marching On Your Own”. A perfect start to the album with its echoey riffs and melodic rhythm, the song produces a relaxed effect which builds to a crescendo of symbol crashes and heavier beats.

“Marching On Your Own” finishes with it’s relaxed tone leading into the second track; “Perfectly Motionless”. The interesting thing about this song is the complexity of the way it has been put together. It begins as a soft tuneful track, but by the end, The Hidden Revolution have built the song so high into a heavier rockier rhythm that the song is something quite different. It brings back memories of Mancunian band Nine Black Alps with their heavy drum beats and experimental guitar riffs.

Continuing down the experimental mellow sort of style, The Hidden Revolution’s third track – “Falling” – starts slowly before breaking into a rock rhythm. As with all their songs, the arrangement of their beats and guitar riffs are executed with perfect precision. Question less proof of this is shown in the fourth and final track on Perfectly Motionless EP1; “Bones”. It’s a live version of the song recorded at the Friends of Mine Festival 2011. The proof of their genius arrangements lies within this song in particular due to the fact it is live and still sounds just as good musically as the other 3 tracks. Thus proving the talent isn’t hidden somewhere within extensive production work, but lies with the raw expertise of an amazing band.

Words: Daniel Hicks