Picture yourself wandering around an abandoned old mansion, being led warmly in hand by a subtle underlying beat with the old building’s creaks and groans adding their accompaniment.

This is what Tony Volker‘s new EP Break & Reshape conjures up… more a soundscape to explore rather than just a collected sample of songs. Each track is built around a simple ‘cold’ refrain, fleshed out with increasing sonic layers of ‘warmth’ and sonic experimentation. It is this experimentation in particular that rewards repeated listens. Weird, strange noises jump out at you when you least expect them but never in a jarring way, leaving you with some very odd visitors to the abandoned mansion.

Don’t believe me? Then listen out for the ‘elephant’ midway through “Disculpa Me”, or the ‘seagull’ flying around “Lines In Sand”. Tony Volker has been likened to Thom Yorke and Elliott Smith, but for me this is more akin to the folk/experimentalism of Ben Christophers. It even has a free form Beta Band groove nuance about it which is more than enough reason to give this EP a try.

Tony hails from South London and although there might not be enough here to force you to make the taxi driver take you south of the river at this time of night, it has certainly made me want to start to walk.

Break & Reshape EP is out 1 June on 12″ vintl and digital download.

Tony Volker on the web:
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Soundcloud