Amie Kimpton

Named after the Amon Tobin track, One Day In Our Garden are two brothers from London town who now occupy England’s rainy city, Manchester. After building up a sizable fanbase, a second E.P was inevitably scratching at the door. With digital techniques slowly filtering through the masses and folk on the verge of a revolution, ODIOG’s desire to fuse the two together really couldn’t have come at a better time. ‘Small Steps’ then is the result of what happens when the principles of folk meet the stylistic fusions of electronica.

Everyone’s partial to a good love story and ‘Imaginary Love’ is no different. As distant voices lurk around each corner of the song, the mature vocal technique of ODIOG remains effectively poignant. This, coupled with a warped chill-out nature goes onto ensure a tender and unmistakable approach. On the flip side of things ‘Boney Man’ looks to a darker side of life, retelling a nightmare. Here the band rely more on their acoustics, but as the song progresses and the beat gets more intense the listener could be forgiven for noticing Sparkles of UNKLE.

Not many bands can say they’ve written a song about a sailor witnessing the eruption of Pompeii, but these boys have and it goes by the name of ‘Red Wine’. In true folk tradition it tells the story in the most uplifting of ways and as it unfolds so do the effects, which at times can seem over used. On the other hand  ‘Work it out Again’ tones down the effects in favour of a more appealing and altogether catchier tone, while ‘Real Stars’ use of twinkling guitars and electronic like raindrops sees the band reflect on the infiltration of American culture in today’s British society,

Heavily inspired by the Ninja Tune label, throughout ‘Small Steps’ there is a strong leaning towards the abstract and instrumental techniques of ambient, however beneath it all lies a conscious effort to resuscitate the age old tradition of folk. It’s promising, I promise.

Comment on this article