Hailing from across the Midlands and Southern Counties, The Occasional Orchestra’s new album Clever Bones is fast becoming one of the favourites in my CD collection. The six-piece band of men and women produce some of the finest Indie Folk music in the UK, and Clever Bones is no exception. Permeated with the band’s usual energy and passion, I’ve had the charmingly distinct album on repeat since first playing it.
You may well have heard of The Occasional Orchestra before: their acoustic vocals regularly feature at gigs across the country, having previously performed at Napton Festival, The Dragonboat Festival and Brackley Fringe Festival. The band released their debut album, 22 Arches, in April 2013, followed by single Paint the Truth in November of the same year. However, this is by no means the musicians’ full résumé. The band’s singer and songwriter Darrell Mitchell and guitarist Jon Taylor have previously worked together in bands Home and Abroad, The Simpletons and Edna. Drummer Kenny Stone has twenty five years’ experience on the kit under his belt, whilst Bass guitarist Kavin Tynan previously worked with London-based band The Provisos.
For their latest album, Darrell collaborated with Jon to pack the band’s new album with vocals on love, heartbreak and passion. Meanwhile, talented vocalist Tracy Feist worked closely with the two songwriters to provide soothing vocal harmonies. Drummer Kenny Stone accompanies the band, giving the indie folk music a distinctive hit of pop.
The remaining two members, whilst being the most recent additions to the band, have helped the ensemble’s music evolve from their previous album, 22 Arches, to what we hear today. While much-respected James Watson took command of the keyboard shortly before the band began recording Clever Bones, Bass Guitarist Kevin Tynan was the most recent to bring his vast musical knowledge to the band.
Without a doubt, this album is definitely not one to miss – full of top-quality and memorable indie folk pop, my personal favourite tracks include ‘Glue’, ‘Killed By Northern Soul’ and ‘Paint The Truth’. Once you start listening, you won’t be able to get them out of your head!
The Occasional Orchestra’s album, Clever Bones, is available on Amazon and iTunes, as well as most other digital outlets.
To download on iTunes, click here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/clever-bones/id1038081818
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Twitter – @theoccorchestra
