We Say…

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Recent headliners of our monthly showcase, Melotone are a Bristol-based alt-psych band based around the songwriting of Alec Madeley. Although the band members met and grew up in the Black Country, it is arguably the psychedelic strains of the Tropicalia soundtracks of his native Brazil that influence Alec more than the urban sprawl of the midlands. Although only formed in 2019, Melotone have already shared stages with the likes of Anna St. Louis and Sylvie, as well as catching the ear of Think Twice Records, who recently shared the band’s debut EP, And… Beyond.

The record opens with the fabulously atmospheric Fields, the track seems to fuse the expansive psych-folk of Kikagaku Moyo with the luxurious bassy swells of Two Dancers-era Wild Beasts. From there the record moves into the title track originally shared back in April. It finds Alec dipping in and out of Portuguese as he reflects on the overwhelming changes in Brazilian culture, between his memories and his most recent visit, musically it has a touch of Devendra Banhart’s more psychedelic moments, as Alec’s voice swells and dips like Daniel Rossen. While essentially a collection of singles, recent offering Ceilings still manages to stand out from the rest, the ebbing rhythm section pulsing away beneath the lithe guitar work and Alec’s vocals that explore a desire for happiness against a natural melancholic bent as he goes in search of “the rawness of what we are in those authentic moments”. Closing track Running Cold, might be the most authentic to the band’s Tropicalia influences, the lyrical exploration of distorted memories set to a backing of brushed snare and hazy wavering guitar lines. Melotone have spoken of their music as existing in a place that confronts the unknown, a sound that doesn’t fit any specific genre or scene, yet exists fully formed and worthy of your attention. Dive into the unknown with Melotone and you might just find something wonderful waiting for you underneath.

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They Say…

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FTR: For those who don’t know who are Melotone?

We are four friends from the Black Country who have known each other for a very long time, and who now make music together. The Black Country is an area near Birmingham in the West Midlands, a grey and industrial place which apparently earned its name from the Queen when she was once journeying through the area, commenting on the level of soot and smoke in the sky from the factories (no idea if this is true, but it’s a widely accepted legend where we’re from). We are all very much indebted to this area for our personalities and sense of humour, and it’s safe to say we all carry the Black Country with us wherever we go. We are also heavily indebted to Brazil, the native country of our singer Alec Madeley, and you will hear this influence in our music with the Portuguese vocals and samba style drumming. We are all in love with Brazilian music, and thanks to Alec’s heritage we have been able to explore and emulate those worldly sounds with Melotone; it is laden in all aspects of our music.

We struggle to identify our genre because of a combination of influences, like most artists probably do, but our sound can be boiled down to alt-psych with influences from Tropicalia, jazz and folk. Instrumentally, we are big fans of Khruangbin and Kikagaku Moyu and reflect those bands in our psychedelic sound – but vocally, Alec channels quite a different mood with his arresting style of singing, similar to Jeff Buckley, Brittany Howard and the Portuguese-English speaking Caetano Veloso.

We are currently living in Bristol, enjoying the music scene here and being close enough to London to play shows regularly there. It’s lovely here in Bristol and I would highly recommend anyone who loves alternative music to come live here, if you can somehow manage to find an affordable place to live…

FTR: What can you remember about your first show?

Melotone’s first show was (of course) at a Bathams pub in the Black Country called The Katie Fitzgeralds, unfortunately closed to the general public now which is a shame. Shoutout to everyone who was there, all the moms and college mates. At the time we were playing under the name of ‘SOUL’, which felt like a really cool idea until the pub owner introduced us on stage and repeatedly remarked how ‘that can’t be a band name it’s a genre’. Ant, Ed and myself (Pete) had been in bands before, so we weren’t nervous about playing in front of a crowd, but this was Alec’s first public outing as a singer which is really interesting. His extended family were there, some of which weren’t aware that he could even sing – a cousin pulled him to the side ten minutes before the set and asked him what is he doing? We were a much louder ‘party’ band back then, so I would love to hear how it sounded. We had a very fun time and I’d say it was generally well received. Ed’s dad pretended to be a random man and asked various people at the pub what they thought of us, apparently all was good, so that was some hopeful spy work.

FTR: Why do you make music? Why not another art form?

Music is how we all connect as friends and has always been a bond between us. Making music just felt natural when other people’s music moved us so deeply, from being kids to where we are now.

We’re all interested in other creative things, but music is probably the favourite because it’s such a communicative in-the-moment thing. The joy of music lies in how it brings you closer to people without any words needing to be said, and the rush you feel when creating something special with other musicians. Other art forms can be more solitary I think.

FTR: What can people expect from the Melotone live show?

We’re proud to present quite a raw live show, just using the basics of guitars, vocals, drums. Alec doesn’t play any instruments and we feel this makes the vocals a very theatrical part of our performance. The bass is just as important in our music as the guitar, which people tend not to expect, so if you like the bass then you will thoroughly enjoy our show. We are constantly writing new songs during rehearsals so you can expect to hear something new each show. And the Black Country humour somehow slips its way onto the stage every time…

FTR: What’s next for Melotone?

We’ve just released our debut EP in July, our first real body of work, so we’re incredibly excited to share that with the world. Beyond that, the horizons aren’t clear – we try to take the music one step at a time, but having written so many songs during the past few months of touring, we now have quite a collection of new songs to start putting together for an even bigger body of work.

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They Listen To…

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Rozi Plain Ft. Alabaster DePlume – Blink

We’ve picked a few new songs from UK artists we are fans of. This first song is a collaboration of two incredible artists in their own right, and is the final track of Rozi’s 2023 album (final tracks tend to always be bangers don’t they).

Naima Bock – Campervan

Naima Bock is incredible, and a criminally under listened-to artist. We’re huge fans of her vocal range, and similarly to us Naima delves into Brazillian folk equipped with Portuguese vocals.

The Vernon Spring – Sidewalk 8

A short but incredible track by The Vernon Spring from their recent EP, short enough to leave you wanting more. We love the jazz/trancey production here.

Deep Tan – hollow scene

We first saw Deep Tan at OuterTown in Bristol a couple months ago. They’re a really sick three-piece who, like us, use one guitar and a bass to create some interesting low-end melodies. They also describe themselves as ‘Khruangbin on crack’ which is undeniably intriguing!

Tapir! – The Nether (Face to Face)

Finally, the great Tapir! Saw these at Ritual Union in Bristol and fell in love. There’s something so incapsulating about their sound, quite like listening to a bard in Chaucerian times, but it’s surprising to see them on stage and realise they are quite a normal, real, lovely bunch of people (not tapirs).

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And… Beyond is out now via Think Twice Records. For more information on Melotone visit https://linktr.ee/melotone.