HOXTON’S Lewis Recordings know a little about a mighty fine groove when they hear one. Let that be a matter of record.
We’ve covered the doings of the Still Brothers in this pages before, when they dropped the “The Deep”/”Wake Up” on 7″ in the heights of last summer, a cracker inspired by and incorporating “subway preachers, jazz funerals and hip hop”, of which we said: “[It] comes in straight for your heart on a crisp, upbeat hip hop break, overlaid with a gospel organ melody, yearning and uplifting all at once; a reverend orates: “In the midst … in the midst of trouble / You all know where to go”. As the tune lifts to overtake him, he observes that many of us are throwing up our hands in an act of surrendering. Hey, in these troubled times, maybe we should stand tall. It’s a thought.” (Hey: go have a listen for yourself, here).
The Bros are Andrew LeCoche, of widescreen NYC guitar melodicists Ula Ruth; and Evan Heinze, of seductive 60s’ psych-lite wonders The Shacks.
They’re just dropping a new digital two-tracker, “When Will I See U?”, backed with an instrumental version; a song that came to be when two lovers were suddenly precipitated into a long-distance relationship by the quarantine.
The tune was sketched out early on in that period of time which is sure to get its own sci-fi dystopian capitalisation as Lockdown One; The Still Brothers had a slow-burn, Philly-retro smooch that just needed that vocal finishing touch to take it where it needed to go.
Step forward close friend, New York resident singer, songwriter and producer Kim Foxen, who the bros have known since school; herself in purdah back in her childhood bedroom, she laid down some lyrics and the vocal track – the song then being finished and polished up down the wires with the help of trumpeter Billy Aukstik and Anant Pradhan, bringing a little mellifluous sax and flute.
Kim says: “The feeling behind the lyrics taps into the yearning that we all experience when the physical presence of someone we love is missing”. And ain’t that the truth? A smooth groove, but full of yearning, pillowed with orchestration – pretty damn delish.
Have a listen to “When Will I See U?” below; and a keep a beady eye on aural developments for these guys at their Lewis Recordings page, on Facebook, TikTok, and on Instagram.
