aaamusic | On 14, Mar 2012

“Reaching skywards…This new EP shows off a level of extraordinary skills…One of the most consistent pop EPs that we’ve heard all year” – The Recommender 

“Too individualistic to tow any line…beautiful” – The Quietus

“Ones to watch” – Clash magazine

 

Look, Stranger! are a vision of the future from the past. School science videos and long-lost editions of Tomorrow’s World provide the basis of the alternative 2012 inhabited by the band. Their songs, characterised by “seriously sophisticated songwriting and playing” (The Guardian), straddle the futuristic, the retro and the deeply familiar. It’s a unique approach to making music, clearly audible on second EP One For The King, released on April 9.
In the three months since the release of Guardian-approved 2011 single Kept It Alive (“Liquid loveliness… Look, Stranger! are the new Wild Beasts”), Look, Stranger! have found the time – in between a UK tour, signing a large publishing deal, national radio play from Frank Skinner, setting up their own monthly Friday clubnight at 93 Feet East and befriending Michael Winner via Twitter – to write and record the all-new material for One For The King. It’s a record with all the ambition and heart of debut EP If You’re Listening, but edges slightly closer to the centre of the dance floor.
The title and lead track is a punchy slice of Yeasayer-esque pop, full of surprising hooks, with an exhilarating, sing-along chorus. Twist And Shout-style vocal harmonies mingle over a pulsating 808 beat and synth arpeggios; it’s Ariel Pink’s Before Today as played by Zapp and Roger. Following The Leader starts as a piece of atmospheric pop evocative of both early 80s Japan as well as the cutting edge of UK bass music, before breaking down into a nu-disco instrumental jam that currently fills the floor at the end of the band’s live set. Neon People’s delicate verses go some way to explaining why The Recommender declared the band were “reaching skywards, drifting without resistance”, but it’s furious mid-section is something entirely new. Finally, live highlight She Will Not Rest, with its fearsome electronics and Sunn O)))-esque squalls, is intense, atmospheric and incredibly cool.
One For The King is released digitally and in a limited run of 100 CDs on April 2. The EP launch, in association with Clash magazine, is at The Lexington on April 5. Look, Stranger! are on tour with Foreign Office in May.

Future live dates:
3 March: Paper Dress Vintage in-store, Shoreditch
5 April: One For The King EP Launch @ The Lexington (in association w/ Clash Magazine)
22 May: Coventry, TBC (w/ Foreign Office)

23 May: Oporto, Leeds (w/ Foreign Office)

24 May: Trof, Manchester (w/ Foreign Office)

25 May: Bungalow & Bears, Sheffield (w/ Foreign Office)

26 May: Oakford Social, Reading (w/ Foreign Office)

 

The EP launch is being held at The Lexington, in association with Clash Music, on the 5th April, more details can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/events/355927737781264/?notif_t=event_invite