Today, I’m bringing you some new music from Chorley four piece Then Thickens. The band have recently released their new single ‘Heaven Alive’, you can see the video for it below.
The video for the single was filmed by singer and chief songwriter Jon Lee and was filmed in the back garden of his Chorley home. The track itself starts with tinkling piano keys that ebb and flow wonderfully bringing us into this one calmly and steadily. When the drums and guitars kick in, it doesn’t take away from the calmness of the keys but just adds a little something extra to it. The steady padding of the drums, melodic strums of guitar and the echoing riffs play with rock, indie and alternative sounds. It is a brilliantly executed track, almost serene in its delivery. A truly great single from these guys.
I first heard of these guys a couple of years ago now when I checked out their set at Sheffield City Hall for Tramlines festival. I thought they were a brilliant band back then but had for some reason completely forgotten all about the new bands I checked out over the course of that festival. When the press release for this track landed in my inbox, I knew I had to check it out. It’s safe to say, the band are still great, if not better than they were back then.
This track is taken from the epic and emotional ‘Colic’ which was released back in 2015. The album took real life stories and mixed them with dark stories, creating an album full of light and shade. ‘Heaven Alive’ is a track that deals with singer Jon Lee’s sleep paralysis, here is what he had to say about the track. “Around the time of writing the album ‘Colic’ I was riddled with it and most days I’d be a walking corpse. Day terrors and hallucinations were common and to some extent, still are. Attempting to remedy this, I became obsessed with sleep promotion, lullabies, in particular, really helped me relax. The album is book ended and covertly stuffed full of these melodies throughout but Heaven alive really evokes that time period perfectly. I forgot my mantra”.
After a succession of great albums and some good critical acclaim, it’s only right this band are getting the attention they deserve. Make sure you check out the single and their back catalogue, you won’t regret it.
To find out more about Then Thickens visit their Bandcamp page, their Facebook page or you can follow them on Twitter – @thenthickens
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