If these guys aren't on your radar, they should be.
Frontman Guy Connelly has described the music as "chop-pop", cutting and manipulating samples of both instrumental and found sounds to form something new. It's a minimalist method of composition comparable to, say, Philip Glass or Steve Reich. Take Alouette for example - what sounds like a complex harp glissando introduction actually comprises a multitude of interlaced guitar sounds.
In Belongings the production centres on a repeated piano refrain which is overlapped with liquid effect. This web of sounds accompanies Connelly's gentle vocal, which bares similarities to Elbow's Guy Garvey. As the slow-burning song progresses, the vocal is looped along with the instrumental sounds with beautiful and mesmeric effect, before the rest of the band enter with drums and fuzzy guitars for a greater sense of urgency. The B-side, Let Go The Lifeboats, is like a twisted folk song, the hypnotic music juxtaposed with a clear pop structure.
Clock Opera's music is in a similarly experimental vein to Radiohead or James Blake (the producer for their upcoming album, Graham Stewart, also worked on Radiohead's 'Kid A' and 'Amnesiac'). But don't be put off by the artistic style of composition. It may be intelligently crafted, but it's indie-pop music all the same.
4/5
Listen: A number of the band's singles are available now, whilst the album 'Ways To Forget' is released on 9th April this year.
