‘The Winter Tyres’ is a five-piece acoustic pop band based in Belgium, that came into existence when Brian Bordello (The Bordellos) found a battered C60 cassette down the back of the sofa, that he’d made aeons ago entitled “Songs For a Girl to Sing”.
These songs were sent to his old friend Claire Wilcock, and The Winter Tyres was formed to finally bring them into existence (they can be found on the 2013 e.p ‘Tired of Winter’.)
Since then, the Anglo/Belgian/Spanish quintet have written their own compositions and they make up their new six track mini album ‘Holding Hands in Public’.
The sound is unashamedly melodic, melancholic and nostalgic – in a soft-focus way rather than citing any past genre – and evokes bittersweet first-love heartbreak and endless sunny days, aided and abetted by the haunting plaintive flute and occasional melodica.
Wilcock’s lyrics relate crushed affections, affectionate crushes and unrealised dreams, over a backwash of acoustic guitar, bass, glockenspeil and percussion. The overall effect is like riding on your childhood sweetheart’s handlebars through a cornfield, and as warming as the late afternoon pastoral sun.
