This new single from British recluses The Gabys is a real dream of a song- and one I would perhaps not have stumbled upon if it weren’t for the guiding hand of Fran Carlyon at heavymetalkids.uk – ever shining a light on undiscovered gems.
There’s an unabashed Velvets influence here (one they gladly embrace) but this is the VU at their most stoned and sedate and clandestine- guitars strummed so sleepily that you can almost hear the strings relaxing, that steady, child-like rhythm all Moe Tucker understatement and oddly cool reserve. The guitars have a lovely ‘Elizabeth on the Bathroom Floor’ tone to them – sketching simple shapes with calm conviction. Vocals drift in ghostly reveries settling above this subdued, melancholic sound world like the morning mist – but with real beauty too- picking subtle melodic lines that quietly, tenderly enthral. It’s a thing of stripped-back, foggy, lo-fi loveliness- one that feels like a whispered secret. It reminds me at times of the early songs of Sophie Michalitsianos in that similarly quiet, insular intimacy – but also in the tone and timbre of those beautifully hazy vocals. But this is still a world very much of The Gabys making. Recorded to tape at home – you get a sense that things are this close-miked and hushed to stop those in the room next door from hearing them. I can understand that mindset very well. This is a private sound world, it’s recording therefore a private act too. Here you feel that it’s tiptoeing into the light – and I’m very glad it is. Very glad indeed.
We’ll have to wait till the end of August for the rest of this mini-album to be heard. Colour Me Out though is very much waiting to be heard… so, you know what you need to do…
Written by M.A Welsh (Misophone)