Torn At The Seams

A local supergroup of sorts, featuring Sack’s Martin McCann, Brilliant Trees’ Tony Barrett and Mark Healy (The Josephs, Subtonics), this all-acoustic affair offers three studio recordings and three songs recorded at their Project Arts Centre live debut earlier this year. Blending nu-folk textures (not a million miles from the kind of fare Iron & Wine offer) with classic song structures in a Nick Drake tradition, it’s very much a low-key project with just acoustic guitar, minimal use of omnichord, melodica and sundry toy bells for added sonic flavour. Of the studio songs, the title-track and ‘Love In An Instant’ immediately impress, their wistful intimacy demanding the listener’s attention while the live cuts, including the beguiling ‘The Art of Landing On Your Feet’ and ‘Dry Land’ offer more of an atmospheric flavour, thanks to room reverb and the dead quiet audience. In a nice marketing twist the EP was released at 11am on 11/11/11!