Kemp’s singing voice-frequently in tight harmonies with Shepherd’s-is vulnerable and approachable, his lyrics heartbreaking and human. The Prudish Few make the unexpected sound familiar, the unusual catchy. Within this trio, chiming guitars, squawking keyboards, punctuating bass, and frenetic drums count out odd meters, shift direction on a dime, and lead the listener down unexpected paths.īut within this, Kemp has found his voice. The guitars are there but Kemp plays a 4-string tenor guitar and a 6-string guitar tuned a perfect fourth above standard tuning just as often as he does a traditional instrument.Īnchoring The Prudish Few are drummer Jay Leo Phillips and bassist Mike Shepherd, themselves from Apollo Up, Tower Defense, Shibboleth, Lotushalo and a lengthy pedigree of Nashville post-rock mainstays. Common time-the 4/4 unit that propels the vast majority of rock songs-is nearly absent from The Prudish Few’s pieces. At least, it isn’t what most of us associate with rock music. While he often composed every part of his songs for guitar, bass, and drums, he was mainly seen sitting behind the kit, counting out 4 beats per measure.īut as Century Club was recording their final output, Todd was trying to find his voice. He wrote and played it with The Carter Administration and Century Club. I thought he meant music played with guitars and drums in common time.įor nearly twenty years after that moment, Todd pursued rock music. And despite his idiosyncratic choice of “rock” references, I understood what he meant. Having made its debut someone yelled 'PARADISOOO!' so the name stuck cause it was born there.You weren’t there in Todd Kemp’s apartment in 1998 when he told me, “I’ve been listening to Liz Phair and Pavement and I want to play rock music again.” It was only two Todds, as his son says. Nameless, we decided to try it out at Paradiso, the venue we were playing in Amsterdam. We got booked into Q-Factory studios and by accident I did the same joke and added 'D-B-G’, this time everyone took notice - we worked all day and finished it. Later we headed to Amsterdam and had two days-off - one day to party and one day to write. I just played an open E for them and yeah, they just left the room. Of Paradiso Fred proffers “whilst touring last year I was joking around with the guys going like Hey I’ve got a new song!" even though I really hadn’t. It felt super natural with him and was an amazing partnership then James (Dring) provided the icing on the cake, he made everything pop in a way we couldn’t even imagine” Working with friend and producer Joakim and the resultant work pushing FEWS harder than ever before Fred add’s “we developed it cohesively and Joakim has seen us live a lot and knew instinctively what mood we wanted to achieve. (Fellow co-founder) David said ’Into Red’ is like a lorry going 300 kph on ice almost losing control, which sums it up pretty great.”
With these songs I wanted to see how honest I can be with myself without it getting too uncomfortable. We wanted to make an album that actually meant something and take it to the next level, no restrictions or limits.
Indie Exclusive Into Red is FEWS dialling-up the intensity with a record boasting a heavier, innovative though nonetheless catchy dynamic than the blueprint of their debut record.Īs band co-founder Frederick explains “Making these songs is by far the most personal thing I’ve ever experienced.