Wild Dogs In Winter are an indie outfit from the UK that have just released their debut release entitled Homba. The band which was born out of a duo project for Rys Baker (guitars, vocals & programming) and Luke Payne (guitars, loops, synths), slowly expanded into a full band for live performances. With Dan Arrowsmith (drums), Adam Fitzwalter (bass) and Stephen Baxter (electronics, synths and programming) onboard the group began writing and recording in earnest, and now the fruits of their labor can be fully experienced on this impressive debut album.
Clocking in a shade under an hour Homba is comprised of ten compositions that sound tailor made for winter listening. Overall this is a pretty laid back affair and each song languidly unfolds at its own pace as the band relies heavily on their melancholic post-rock textures, mixed with the subtle use of electronics, to create these bleak sounding sonic landscapes. These eerie landscapes are largely the results of the expert weaving of Baker and Payne's contrapuntal guitar work which is as beautiful as it is simplistic on tracks like "Coal In The Blood", "Powder And Tin" and "Salt Brother". It doesn't happen often but when the two join forces in unison and cut loose with some jagged sounding , layered guitar work for example on "Lungwine", "The Butcher" and "The Butcher's Wife" the rise in volume coupled with the sheer power of their playing is enough to make you sit up and take notice. Baker's distant sounding vocals are brimming with reverb and it isn't so much what he's singing, it's the fact that his voice is helping to add another layer to what is already an incredibly dense and atmospheric musical landscape.
Homba is a marvelous piece of work from beginning to end and will be best enjoyed if you give it your full attention and listen to it all in one sitting. It's the kind of album that immediately draws you in from the very first note and holds you firmly in its grip until the last notes slowly fade away. If you enjoy superbly crafted indie post-rock, then I strongly suggest you check out what Wild Dogs In Winter have to offer.
Track Listing
1) Coal In The Blood
2) Lungwine
3) Powder And Tin
4) E Hu-Li
5) Homba
6) Tails The Chine, Heads The Hunt
7) Salt Brother
8) A Hu-Li
9) The Butcher
10) The Butcher's Wife
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