The Wednesday Play - Waiting At Home

The Wednesday Play evolved from the roots rock outfit The Severed Limb, a three-album band formed in 2004 by Robert Paul and Sam Soper. The Severed Limb released material with the support of the excellent Damaged Goods label, friends of mine, and one of the great stalwarts of the underground scene. However, after that, Robert and Sam felt a need to make music differently. That involved recording at home and incorporating hand-built synths, vintage drum machines and a host of other devices. Becoming The Wednesday Play, they then added an extra twist by collaborating with Tina Swasey (Oh! Gunquit) and James Vincent (My Tiger, My Timing), with lyrics portraying experiences of modern life as native Londoners.

Waiting At Home, the band's latest release, is a terrific introduction to their new sound. Heavily influenced by some of the new wave pioneers and reminiscent of those cool, art-scene innovators, the track provides a bigger groove than the Grand Canyon, but with all the angular shards of a cubist sculpture. For me, that makes them a lot more appealing than all those indie-by-numbers acts out there. About the song, they say "In contrast to the energetic music, the lyrics address feelings of paranoia and insomnia whilst waiting for a late night telephone call".

I would suggest you make that call.