"In Cascade", the new EP by The Amber Herd is now available for stream/download

...both blissfully melancholic indie and uplifting stripped-back folk and comes to a sprawling, open-mouthed finish with an almost Velvet Underground-esque wall of sound, acoustics flitting between prog keyboard stabs and all buried under Neil Beards' darkly overdriven Mary Chain guitar.  Nottingham's best kept secret?"  www.thiscitymagazine.co.uk

The Amber Herd - In Cascade; having positioned Our Only Eden in the here and now with their debut album released in 2014, Nottingham’s The Amber Herd now sets its sights on the stars. 

The band releases “In Cascade”- a new 25 minute four track EP on Herdworks Records in July 2016.

• The lead track and single “Northern Sky” is one of the band’s biggest pop statements to date. A sub-four-minute driving melodic song designed for radio.
• Second track up is “Hall of Mirrors” which is an altogether weirder psychedelic journey suggesting that things are not always as they seem.  This track features duelling guitar and keys and the appearance of a very famous literary figure. 
• At the request of producer Mark Rolfe (Lorna - Words on Music Records) the band revisit “Thursday”, an old single, for track three.  This is the definitive version of this song and meets the original vision the band had for it, a beautiful ballad with guest vocals from original band member Rachel Edge.
• Finally, as it’s The Amber Herd, the E.P. finishes with an eight-minute monster, this time in the shape of a trippy remix of Our Only Eden album track (and the band’s debut single) Stage Fright by Brighton based Payola Disco.

The band will launch the EP with a show at the Nottingham Bodega on Friday 22nd, with Lorna and Blue Period.

The Amber Herd are:

Neil Beards:          Vocals/Acoustic Guitar
Paul Wentworth:   Electric Guitar/Vocals
Rob Fitzmaurice:  Bass Guitar
Mark Lasbury:       Drums
Ollie Powditch:     Keyboards

“The Amber Herd are a psych-scented indie outfit.  Great use of guitars and Theremin, truly arresting vocals, and a moody feel … they know how to use dynamics. This lot should be massive, if there is any justice (damn it)."
Record Collector Magazine – July 2015

“'Nottingham city-based post-punk outfit The Amber Herd - and when we say "post punk", we mean like the master class of 1984 perfected so vehemently back in the day'”
Dom Gourlay - Drowned in Sound

“It is difficult to believe this is the band’s first full length release as it feels very accomplished and like a third or fourth album by a veteran group. I would need to hear it a few more times, but that is something I am willing to do for the pure musical and lyrical enjoyment. I expect we will all be hearing a lot more from these guys and I look forward to it” 
RedDom – Nottingham live magazine

“There isn’t a single second in this album that could be taken out. Our Only Eden is a chilled out album perfect for the long summer nights. The Amber Herd are definitely ones to watch; don’t be put off by their alternative approach, just sit back and relax because they’ve got it all under control”
Sian Hodkin – Derbyshire Times

“With a powerful sound, and evoking lyrics The Amber Herd deliver a masterpiece with “Our Only Eden”
Spaced Out Magazine

Connect with The Amber Herd: Website   Twitter   Facebook    Bandcamp   Soundcloud 

 

Stream/Download "In Cascade" by The Amber Herd

The Amber Herd talks about their new EP release "In Cascade"

The Amber Herd is a band formed in Nottingham in 2007 and consists of members from all over the UK that all converged on the East Midlands. The band's influences include thrash metal, traditional folk, post punk and alternative rock. The Amber Herd is releasing a new EP entitled "In Cascade" tomorrow, so it is only right that we connect with the guys to get more background into the release, find out where their unique name originated, and much more.  

Carlton Boyd

I'm sure you have been asked this many times but the DOPECAUSEWESAID readers need to know; how did you guys come up with the name 'The Amber Herd' and does it have a special meaning?

We used to live in the countryside and drove past a farm sign everyday that had the name of their short-horn dairy cattle on it. This was in the Amber Valley in Derbyshire, UK, and the herd was called The Amber Herd. We always thought this would be a far better name for a band than for a collection of cow so when the time came we stole it. We're pleased to say that we haven't had any "cease and desist" letters from the farm yet. We're also very pleased that we haven't had similar letters from Johnny's Depp's (ex) wife- with whom we have no connection whatsoever!

Tell us about your new EP "In Cascade"; of the four songs, do you have a favorite?

We released our debut album, Our Only Eden, in mid 2014 and have been busy gigging and writing since then. We wanted to release our second album this year but we knew it'd be hard to get everyone together for an elongated period so we decided to release an EP this year and follow it up with the album in 2017. The EP contains two brand new songs, Northern Sky and Hall of Mirrors, one reworked song from the live set, Thursday, and a remix of our first single, Stage Fright.  We wrote Northern Sky as we were offered a 7" single deal from a local label for Record Store Day 2016 and wanted to use something new for that. Unfortunately time beat us so we held Northern Sky back for this release. We only released its video last week and have already had over 1,200 views which is very encouraging. It was also played on BBC regional radio and we're hoping to get some national airplay for either that or Hall of Mirrors in the next week or so. It's hard to say which song, if any, we prefer as we like them all but we're very happy for listeners to choose their own favourite!

How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard it?

We're influenced by every record we've heard over the year so it's hard to describe our music to those who haven't heard it. We tend to be lazy and say alt-rock or post-punk but we've got loads of different influences ranging from rock to folk to metal to shoegaze. We like to think that anyone with an adventurous mind will probably like what we do!

Your sound is very diverse; who are some of your musical influences?

To pick up from the earlier answer we have loads of influences and each member of the band brings a different thing in. Acts we've been compared to in the past include The Velvet Underground, The Jesus and Mary Chain, James, Neil Young, Bowie and Pink Floyd.

Will you be touring in support of "In Cascade"? If so, will you be doing shows in the US?

We're launching the EP with a big show at the Bodega in Nottingham in late July. We're then playing a number of festival shows in the UK. We'd love to play some shows in the US and have a fair number of fans over your side of the pond. We're more than happy to listen to any offer a promoter might wish to make us!

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Review: The Amber Herd's "In Cascade" EP

The cover art of In Cascade shows a human figure wearing what appears to be a fur-lined coat, head tilted just slightly up, eyes presumably turned toward the striking aquamarine sky full of stars. It's the perfect image for the EP—because the four tracks offered are, at times, just as other-worldly, just as stark, just as oddly gorgeous as this image.

The 25-minute EP starts with “Northern Sky,” a song that begins with a fade-in of ambient noise before vocalist Neil Beards enters with an echo, then a synthesizer (or is that a theremin?) joins, and it becomes clear that The Amber Herd knows how to use noise to create a unique soundscape reminiscent of Spiritualized or, at times, Pink Floyd. They also know how to use their lyrics to tell a story, which is quickly apparent in “Northern Sky.” This first track, at just under four minutes, is perhaps the most radio friendly on the album—The Amber Herd's sometimes psychedelic songs usually do not dip below the five-minute mark. It is also the song with the catchiest vocal melody.

“Hall of Mirrors” takes us further into the realm of psychedelia: Everything about the production is dreamy. The guitars seem to swirl around, the vocals are slightly distant and one has to strain a bit to hear them, but then a lead guitar and a bass line ground us and we find at the heart of the track a well rendered pop song, also well adorned.

If there is a ballad on the album, it is “Thursday,” a gentle, romantic track that could have easily turned cliché, but doesn't. There is enough originality in it to carry a listener through to the final track, “Stage Fright (Payola Disco Remix),” which is a new look at a song from Our Only Eden. This track is perhaps the most indicative of how much The Amber Herd have matured in two years: They took a song that was arguably the strongest on a previous record, made it longer, and made it even more engaging. They manage to fill the song with all kinds of ambient noises without making it feel cluttered—it remains simultaneously sleek and full at the same time, with electronic drums, synth, and more echo on Beards' vocals. At the end, he repeats: “Shutup. Do you dream yourself to sleep/or do you wake up?”

Those lyrics could summarize the whole album. It's made for listening through headphones, just before bed, at those strange times in-between waking and sleep, when everything can seem both clear and hazy at the same time.

In Cascade will be available from Herdwork Records on Friday, July 22. 

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L.M. Alder is a writer, librarian and musician. His stories, poems, and reviews have appeared in Asimov's, Ghost Town, decomP, Corium, the EEEL, and other places. He is the co-author of A Cathedral in a Mason Jar: The Untold Story of Elvis Presley (tNY.Press, 2016). You can check out his band at TheDeafeningColors.com.