ONESTOWATCH: Esben & The Witch

Brighton’s brooding pop-noir enigmas withstand prodding from Daniel Ross…

Anyone who has read anything about Brighton three-piece Esben And The Witch will have little idea what they actually sound like. Rather uniquely in these pigeonhole-fixated times, they are refreshingly difficult to describe, and any attempts to do so inevitably scrabble around for adequate adjectives to evoke the dark, lush, and sweeping pop music displayed on their debut LP, ‘Violet Cries’. See? Scrabbling. It’s like comparing the Mona Lisa to a competent matt vinyl finish. “We always have trouble when people ask us what it sounds like,” says Thomas Fisher, guitarist and noise manipulator. “Regardless of what words people use to try and sum up the band, hopefully some people might listen to us who might not have before.”

The trio signed to the legendary indie label Matador last year, the first UK band to do so in six years. Daunting, surely? “It’s an incredible opportunity and, more than anything else, it’s an unbelievable compliment to be signed to that label,” says vocalist Rachel Davies isn’t fazed. Second guitarist and electronics noodle Daniel Copeman is in agreement: “They’ve allowed us to retain all the control we desire in making the record, making the artwork and such like.” Key to the trio’s success is the band’s live shows. They’ve been known to take a stuffed owl on stage, but that’s not the end of it. “We’ve got one idea which we are quite enamoured with, but we’re going to look into whether it’s actually possible before we reveal it,” Thomas mischievously hints. “It’s something we try to be very DIY with. Whether or not the idea we have will come to pass will be dependent on a lot of things between now and February,” adds Daniel, cryptically. Perhaps the only way to find out is to become immersed in their live shows across the coming year. They’ll be even harder to describe than the music itself.

‘Violet Cries’ is released on 4AD on January 31st.