NARC review of Under the Sun

http://www.narcmedia.com/dissection-singles/the-words-under-the-sun/

After hearing the first few lines of this track, I’ll admit I became a little biased; my Cheshire ears detected the hint of a North West accent, and I was smitten. There’s other reasons to like this though; it’s a relentless burst of pop-rock, and the vocal moves charmingly up and down the major scale in a style reminiscent of Guy Garvey (an inevitable Mancunian comparison, but a useful one nevertheless). But perhaps the main reason that the song is so instantly endearing is that it’s summery. After a field recording of some kids playing outside, the listener is transported into a world where the sun is shining. Once the guitars kick in, strummed hurriedly, as if the band can’t wait to drop them and run off to the beach, we’re told to go “one by one into the sun”. Maybe the song works because it fits so well into the English tradition of placing great hopes into the summer months, even when it’s April and there’s still plenty of “rain clouds”, as The Words’ singer points out. With fantasies of the “greatest beach you’ve ever seen”, The Word are a band that are challenging the (incorrect) perception of Manchester as Britain’s rainiest city, and are producing some of the best Mancunian feel good tunes since James told everyone to Sit Down. Good on ‘em.



Under the Sun can be heard on our Tourdates profile and is avaialble to buy on ITunes at http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=304208002&s=143444

The Words