2:54
New EP ‘Scarlet’ released on Fiction November 14
+ headline tour and The Big Pink support dates
“Stinging, spite-laden guitar and mesmerizingly chilly tones that
recall Slint if they’d been signed to Creation” – NME
“A bleak English charm…there’s something of the suspense film about
the music of 2:54” – Guardian Guide
“Dreamy…an airy twilight wilderness, whispering new wave dread” – The Fader
A perilous ride into a foreboding, enchanting dreamscape, London-based sisters Colette and Hannah Thurlow -otherwise known as 2:54- have delivered one of the most thrilling releases of the year, in the form of debut 4-track EP, ‘Scarlet’. Fans of their limited seven-inch-only single, ‘On a Wire’ (which sold out instantly when released on talked-up indie label House Anxiety this spring) will have expectations incinerated within the first spin of ‘Scarlet’, their first release on Fiction Records. The duo make a vertiginous leap into a whole new world, expanding their vast, darkly cinematic sound, and tapping a bloodline -spanning all manner stoner- rock and punk and deities- in vital new form that instantly places them alongside the finest atmospheric pop experiments of Tomorrow.
Proceedings are given an added thrust this time with the arrival of luminaries such as mixer Alan Moulder (Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails) and Mercury-winning producer Rob Ellis (PJ Harvey, Nick Cave). The A-side title track -their first proper single and the first taste of their upcoming album- refines their distinct stratum of brimstone pop to perfection; the sisters’ unerring instinct for gorgeous melody and effortless hooks is cast against lacerating guitars, bludgeoning
rhythms and spacey, dive-bomb dynamics. The other three B-side tracks – some of the very first 2:54 material to be written, and recorded in a burst over three days– similarly pulse and pound with a noir magic in their veins. ‘Wait/Awake’ builds tension through Hannah’s ominous guitar work and Colette’s serpentine call, before fully taking flight in the majestic, pining chorus. The thunderous ‘Got A Hold’ swoops them into woozy, intoxicating territories with one of their most
seismic soundscapes to date dropping out three quarters of the way through for a cliffhanger few seconds, to exhilarating effect.
The meditative finale ‘Dawn’, on the other hand, explores another element of the band altogether, as they turn out a climactic, slow-burning epic to close out the EP in fittingly enigmatic fashion. The band head out on their own tour in November to celebrate the EP’s release -culminating in their biggest headline show to date at London’s Corsica Studios on 9th November- and then as main support to The Big Pink on their highly-anticipated comeback tour, by personal
invitation of the band. Having cast quite a spell over audiences while touring with the likes of Warpaint, Wild Beasts, Melissa Auf der Maur and Yuck, as well as many-a buzz festival slot this year, anticipation is high surrounding their return to the road this winter.
TRACKLISTING
1. Scarlet
2. Wait/ Awake
3. Got A Hold
4. Dawn
UPCOMING LIVE DATES:
November (*with the Big Pink)
4 – 60 Million Postcards, Bournemouth
6 – Louisiana, Bristol
9 – Corsica Studios, London
11 – Classic Grand, Glasgow*
12 – Constellations Festival, Leeds
14 – Academy 3, Manchester*
15 – Academy 2, Liverpool*
17 –Wedgwood Rooms, Portsmouth*
18 – Digital, Brighton*
19 – HMV Library, Birmingham*
21 – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham*
22 – Thekla, Bristol*
