Gallery 47 - [breakfast at the clinic]
October 31, 2008 by Helen Newbery
I’m intrigued when a hand-sewn, initially rather anonymous-looking CD-shaped package arrives in the post. Closer inspection reveals it to be EP [breakfast at the clinic] by Gallery 47, the recording moniker of one Jack Peachey from Nottingham: “I really hope it didn’t get lost because I’ve hand sewn these ones and they took me ages, especially because I don’t really know how to sew and I don’t own a thimble.” My curiosity duly aroused, I was keen to find out whether this admirable attention to detail was reflected in the music.
The EP opens with “An empty room”, and at first it’s just Peachey, his vocals almost painfully delicate, accompanied by guitar. Then things move up a gear as a chorus (of sorts) kicks in, with the sound bolstered by drums and keyboard. As this falls away, we’re left alone once again with Jack and his guitar. Magical.
The second track, News Report_02, is by comparison more upbeat; jaunty, almost. Perhaps strangely, however, it’s less impressive than the two songs with which it is bookended. There’s more of Peachey’s delicate side on display on “I’ll see you again”. It’s haunting lyrics: “I don’t believe in hell so I can dream of mass graves in heaven” are underpinned by harmonies so subtle you don’t notice them on first listen. There’s even a touch of post-rockery towards the end, which is not strictly necessary, as the song stands up just fine on its own two feet.
Overall, this is a well-produced and accomplished EP from an emerging talent with lots of ideas. In fact, it feels at times as if there are almost too many ideas squeezed into three tracks, but it certainly marks Peachey out as someone with ambition. He’ll clearly have to invest in a sewing machine for when things take off.
Related posts:
- Nova Robotics - Subterfuge EP 2007 should be a great year for this experimental post-rock...
- The Dykeenies - New Ideas It’s a hell of a time for the Scottish music...
- Gallery 47 - Logic Starfighter 3 Listening to new music with a nice cup of tea...
