Liam Vincent and The Odd Foxes (Liam Vincent – vocals, guitar, harmonica, Rebecca Mileham – violin, vocals, piano, David Walls – mandolin, guitar, vocals, Tom Caswell – bass) started playing music together two months before Covid-19 hit, and the first lockdown happened. Liam was able to carry on writing and, with the rest of the band, recorded a five song EP remotely. The Pierson V. Post EP is the culmination of that process, managing to capture the feel of being in the room together, even though nobody was.
The five songs on the EP draw on Liam’s roots in an Irish musical family, with an authentic acoustic Irish folk sound established right from the first track, ‘We Are The Monsters‘. The fiddle and mandolin add to the toe tapping rhythm to make the listener feel that they are indeed having a live music experience from the comfort of home – The Odd Foxes would be an awesome band to see live.
The second track, ‘Sunday Song‘ is the strongest on the EP and tackles the issues of what has happened to many of us over the last year. A busy, toe trapping melody that elevates the rhythm up a notch, Liam’s lead vocals have an earnestness about them that support the lyrics:
“…will you find ways to make better days…it’s time to change…throw away yesterday’s ideas of taking what you want”
Consumerism and the ever present need to buy “stuff we don’t need” has seemed less and less important to society in the past year – our view of what is important in our lives has undergone a somewhat radical change. ‘Sunday Song’ asks whether we return to that selfish, take what you want society or whether we really do make a change for the better.
‘Race To The Bottom‘ has a gentler rhythm and sound, asking whether we have lost ourselves in our current society, posing a question that has been asked for many a year. However, perhaps due to the restrictions and loss caused by Covid-19, we have a better chance than previous generations who have asked this same question. If ‘Race To The Bottom’ was a gentler sound, ‘Vanity Project‘, the song that follows is very much not in this style. A good old fashioned protest song, ‘Vanity Project’ looks at the cost to society of rampant consumerism, powered by the aforesaid vanity projects costing billions of pounds with very little advantage to the vast majority of the population.
Pierson V. Post is a fine addition to the folk music scene, the songs especially coming alive when Liam’s vocals are harmonised with those of Rebecca – they complement each other enormously.
Liam’s advice for aspiring musicians encompasses an ideal approach to independent music:
“If you’re truly passionate about creating music (and not just being popular on social media) then stick to what you believe in and just keep plugging away at it. Stand for something, don’t be scared to put your values across in your output and you’ll find your audience. Keep an open mind, take in everything that’s around you but don’t try and follow what’s popular – be true to yourself because what you’re doing could become the next trend. You’ll never be a pioneer if you’re chasing what’s already popular. Having said that, don’t be too stubborn to listen to outside opinions, especially during recording sessions. Sometimes having that different perspective or fresh pair of ears can really help push something on to the next level
As a general rule in life, not just in music, you should be nice to people and be generous with your time – if someone is interested in what you do, you can’t take that for granted – even having just one person that’s passionate about what you’re doing is huge.”
Pierson V. Post was released on 5 April on Big Plate Records.
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