Carnival Of Sign Language

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The divide between the Wellington and Auckland indie music scenes seems to be getting bigger as another EP is released from the vault. The cities couldn’t be more divided; Wellington’s currently delivering a chain of carefully crafted pop records, built on hours of hard work and fine tuning, while Auckland’s purse is full of scuzzy punk bands, whose attitudes are to biff songs out and see what sticks. Both have flair and both approaches have produced some great music, but one has been more consistent. So again we’re hearing from a Wellington band whose life revolves around music – Glass Vaults.

You may have already seen the name Vaults pop up on EMJ, before being renamed Glass Vaults. Richard Larsen and Rowan Pierce met while studying at Massey University in Wellington after growing up almost side-by-side in rural Manawatu. Musical chemistry struck and from their different backgrounds (Rowan as a composer of music for film and dance and Richard’s experience as a solo musician) emerged a sound washed in beautiful sunny landscapes and bright psychedelic imagery. The pair combine thick walls of drums (both live and electronic), textured stargazing guitars and droney synths, topped with Larsen’s crisp, sighing vocals. They take the ambience of a motion picture and mold it into a specular monologue that bounces and somersaults before bursting into a brightly coloured rainbow.

Today they unravelled their first EP which was produced by their friend Bevan Smith (Signer, The Ruby Suns, Over The Atlantic). It was recorded in March on Rowan’s grandmother’s farm and if you listen closely you can hear the whisper of the open air. The EP, titled Glass, can be downloaded for free from Glass Vaults’ Bandcamp page or from the Sonorous Circle website.

 Glass Vaults- Forget Me Not: MP3

 Glass Vaults- Myspace

 

Posted by Nick Fulton under New Zealand, Wellington
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