E.P Review: Campfire Social - Everything Changed

 

  Campfire Social (Photo by Holly Mason)

It's the third month of Lockdown here in the UK and the seemingly never-ending nature of it all has had effects of all of us. I'm sick to the back teeth of talking about it, but here goes:

 Personally, I've found this one tougher than I expected. Being stuck in without much interaction at the height of winter is not what we're wired to do as Human Beings; I could feel my mental health grasping at straws. In February, I got approached by a well known Music review site to join their ranks, before realising it's model charged bands and artists to get reviewed and paid it's reviewers for little more than a few lines of good copy - In effect, payola. The fact I considered it, if only for a couple of days, did not help. 

It got to the point a couple of weeks ago where I found myself on the brink of pulling the plug on this blog entirely. Something I started as a means to sharing music I love had become yet another source of anxiety. My natural and ingrained tendency towards Rip it up and start again was starting to surface. To paraphrase 'Galvanise' by The Chemical Brothers -  my finger was on the button. 

Perhaps, like many of you reading, I needed some form of comfort to get myself out of the cyclical rut of anxious thinking. I went back to basics and started listening more and questioning less.

Into this climate, Campfire Social have returned with new E.P 'Everything Changed', available now from Mai 68 Records and on the band's Bandcamp below. Comprising of Husband and Wife Tom (Guitar/Vocals) and Carrie Hyndman (Keyboard/Vocals), Chris Hembrough-Done (Guitar/Vocals), Rhys Mather (Bass) and Ben Matthews (Drums), the band formed in 2016 and are based between Chester and North Wales.

                         Photo by Holly Mason

2019 saw the band set sail as guests of Belle and Sebastian along with Mogwai, The Buzzcocks, Teenage Fanclub et al on a jaunt round the Med - a true highlight in their blossoming career. 2020 was set to be busy year for them too with a slot confirmed for the SXSW Festival in Austin; before the obvious curtailed their plans. In February, the band released lead single 'It's Not Goodbye (To Those We Left Behind)', their first new material since August 2020 - a pre-cursor of what to expect from the 6 track E.P - and now that E.P arrives in timely fashion. 

Title track and opener 'Everything Changed' manages to distil the frustration we all feel with life on hold, in just under three minutes of blissful indie pop escapism. The backing rises in a way that Arcade Fire have made a career out of and the vocals are as mournful and soothing as anything from 'Funeral'. I've been holding on to hope and now it's all gone is the relatable lyric that heralds a shift in dynamics, that elevates the track into an uplifting anthem that deserves to soar majestically over festival main stages should circumstances allow.

        

 Lead single 'It's Not Goodbye (To Those We Left Behind)' keeps this large and anthemic sound at it's focal point and lyrically the themes remains consistent. The two-part harmonies are pushed to the forefront and they sound so resolute and sumptuous that your Serotonin levels rise exponentially. The chorus rotates around a question that most bands have asked themselves in recent months - Who are you writing songs for anyway? With sonic delights such as this, the number's will be growing rapidly for the right reasons.

Summer 2020 single 'Awake in the Wake of a Wave' is another dynamic shape shifter that capitalises on Campfire Social's innate knack for gorgeous vocal melodies. With stabs of horns penetrating the uplifting guitar tones in a exhilarating finale that echoes both Death Cab for Cutie and Two Door Cinema Club. The track closes with a rousing sing-along with the phrase I don't belong ringing round your ears; celebrating the unity that can come from recognising and relating from the alienation of others. 

                               

The longest track on the E.P is the stunning and poignant 'On the Subject of Death'.  It's something that we don't always have to face in daily life, but have been forced to more than ever in the last year. The guitar line is pensive as it weaves around a sombre backdrop; Tom Hyndman's vocals are at their strongest on the record. Don't be scared and don't be sorry, The World's not really ending he pleads - acknowledging the power of grief but offering hope and healing beyond it.  

Closer 'Wherever You Rest Your Head' is the inevitable continuation to 'On the Subject of Death'; it asks the philosophical questions and what if's that occur when everything seems so bleak and out of control - before realising what really is important - And if you told me you'd be waiting outside, then maybe I'd be feeling alright. The track sticks to the E.Ps modus operandi of finding comfort through dark times and is a fitting ending to what is a rollercoaster of a listen.

Thankfully, I snapped out of my mid-Lockdown slump and realised that I can do this blog without it trampling my internal uncertainties like a pile of Autumnal leaves in a Primary School playground. I'm under no illusions that any of these feelings were important in the Grand scheme of things and that millions of people across the land were having mini existential crisis' on a daily basis. Campfire Social manage to distil these feelings of acute apprehension that has manifested on 'Everything Changed' and offer support and empathy through their warm and inclusive Indie Pop. It's an E.P to embrace and cling to - and we could all do with more of that in our lives.  

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