Named after a comic strip from the 2000AD series, the distinctive sound of London-based seven-piece REVERE is a monument to the backgrounds and musical loves of its members – who originate from across the UK; from London, Newcastle and Liverpool, to as far afield as the Orkney Isles.
Drawing on influences as diverse as Ennio Morricone, Broken Social Scene and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, REVERE bind together the traditional back-bone of guitar/bass/drums with an unlikely approach to the violin, cello, and piano. Elsewhere, the lineup is complemented by colliery-style brass sections lamenting over layers of fractured vocal samples and distorted keyboards.
As they roll out new material from their upcoming second album, REVERE continue to pull together varied influences into a now more frantic, grittier onslaught. The edgy new-wave guitars of Magazine merge with the industrial clatter of Joy Division and Battles; the expansive soundscapes have morphed into euphoric flashes that would vie with the most uplifting elements of Everything Everything or the Maccabees.
Angular stabs of synths surge up out of waves of strings – all the while the voice sails through the mêlée, itself sounding both urgent and seaworn; part Jeff Buckley, part Bon Iver. Imagine Ian Curtis singing Scott Walker, set against the varied skylines of England’s industrial docklands.
RECENT NEWS
‘Keep This Channel Open’ is the first official single to be taken from REVERE’s second album ‘My Mirror / Your Target’, and hints at the broader theme of communication present throughout the album. The track received its first radio spin from Steve Lamacq, and has since enjoyed wider support from 6Music. The video was shot in the abandoned printworks of the Daily Express in East London and bears a distinct Kubrick-esque atmosphere. The video debuted on Channel 5 in Sept 2012.
REVERE’s sophomore album ‘My Mirror / Your Target’ will be released in early 2013. The album was funded exclusively through the support of the band’s fan base via the Pledge Music platform, with the band offering supporters everything from signed piano keys, recording studio visits and even freshly baked cakes.
REVERE have performed at a string of festivals throughout 2012; including Latitude, Field Day, Womad, Larmer Tree, Standon Calling, Mosely Folk and others. 2013 tour dates announced soon. The group also made appearances at The Great Escape, Camden Crawl and Liverpool Soundcity.
‘I Won’t Blame You’, the second single to be taken from the new album, will be released in April 2013. The music video, filmed in an eerie Victorian Asylum, was directed by James Thompson.
Following a sell-out UK-wide tour supporting double Grammy-winner Toumani Diabaté, REVERE entered into the studio with Diabaté to record a reworked version of the Joy Division classic ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’. The track was featured on Word Magazine’s covermount CD and has been lauded in several broadsheets, including the Guardian, Financial Times, Herald and others. See the video here: Toumani & REVERE video
A stripped down version of new track ‘What Am I If I’m Not Even Dust’ appeared on a special CD release commemorating 30 years of Peter Gabriel’s WOMAD festival. The track features Senegalese kora maestro Diabel Cissokho.
A series of remixes and reworkings of material from REVERE’s debut album ‘Hey! Selim’ were released as four EPs titled ‘REVERE: REWORKED #1-4’. Members of groups like Florence & The Machine, Bat For Lashes, Oceansize, Metronomy and others contributed to the project. The artwork for the EP’s was submitted by a host of fans and other supporters of the band.
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
“UK’s answer to Arcade Fire, it seems the troupe are embracing the tag. From their early days of uber-theatrical, classic sounding ballads to tonight’s epic offering, Revere have come a long way and they seem very comfortable in their new skin. Frontman Stephen Ellis employs profound Interpol/Editors-esque vocals to compliment the massive sound forged by the remaining seven members of the band.” (THE FLY)
“The diverse line-up brings with it a diversity of influences – including the cinematic scores of Nino Rota and Ennio Morricone; the soaring vocals and genre-tripping of Jeff Buckley; the brooding soundscapes of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and the dark folk of Nick Cave. REVERE combine these influences with fleeting elements of gypsy songs, post-rock, klezmer, film scores and gospel to produce cohesive, multi-layered and dramatic music which moves from tiny, music-box openings to cacophonous walls of sound. The result is a sound often compared to instrumental alchemists like Sigur Ros, Arcade Fire and Beirut. (CHANNEL 5)
“Revere […] combine the fiery melodrama of Muse with the rousing chamber-pop of Arcade Fire. They could, and should, be huge” (STEPHEN DALTON, THE TIMES)
“How you and I got this far without them in our lives I’ll never know; Triumphant, raucous and spine-tingling” (FORFOLKSAKE)
“Revere…so stirring that they could have roused an army of hippies to war!” (POLARI MAGAZINE)
“The most underrated band in Britain at the moment, everything they produce is of the highest quality” (THE BEAT SURRENDER)
“An extraordinary widescreen technicolor epic of a song…a stunning single by a stunning band…” (TOM ROBINSON, BBC6)
“Epic widescreen melancholia” (NEIL McCORMICK, TELEGRAPH)
REVERE:
Stephen Ellis (lead vocals, guitar), Seb Pidgeon (guitar, vocals), Ellie Wilson (violin, vocals), Kathleen McKie (cello, vocals), Nicholas Hirst (keyboard, vocals), Russell Cook (bass, vocals), Marc Rollins (drums)
