Esben And The Witch - Wash The Sins Not Only The Face [12", LP, Bonus 7"]

Oh, i love this album. Been a fan of ESBEN AND THE WITCH ever since i came across a review of their demo and checked some songs online out of curiosity. Violet Cries was one of the best albums of 2011. Their "nightmare pop" has become less claustrophobic on this new album: it's more transparent, lighter, more accessible; better produced if you like. But all the time there's this haunting, dark and icy vibe that's so typical for this band. The track Despair is quite illustrating for that matter. This uptempo dreamy song starts off pretty gently, until dissonant synths kick in. It's one of my favourite songs on this album and i can now already tell that WASH THE SINS NOT ONLY THE FACE will definitely be in my album top 10 list of 2013. The album comes out this Monday, and the LP is available as limited edition. That version is the one i have; it has a bonus 7" and includes the album on CD as well. Better than a download to my opinion! The bonus 7" comes in a picture sleeve and features an excellent remix of Deathwaltz (produced by Dave Sitek of TV On The Radio), plus a non-album song called Trail.

Label: Matador
Cat.nr.: OLE9910
Year of release: 2013

SIDE A:
01. Iceland Spar
02. Slow Wave
03. When That Head Splits
04. Shimmering
05. Deathwaltz

SIDE B:
01. Yellow Wood
02. Despair
03. Putting Down The Prey
04. The Fall Of Glorieta Mountain
05. Smashed To Pieces In The Still Of The Night


Bonus 7":

Label: Matador
Cat.nr.: OLE1013
Year of release: 2013

SIDE A:
01. Trail

SIDE B:
01. Deathwaltz (Rework, Produced by David Andrew Sitek)

Esben And The Witch - Chorea [12"]

This 12" by ESBEN AND THE WITCH was released for Record Store Day 2011, as a limited edition. Title track CHOREA comes from their excellent Violet Cries LP, while the original version of Corridors appeared on their "33 EP". That version was already 9 minutes long, but this one takes twice as much and is much different than the original. It was used as a soundtrack for Karl Sadler's indoor forest installation "Corridor" at the Creators Project.
Last but not least it features a Mogwai remix of the song Eumenides. A nice reinterpretation with a lot of electronic beats.

Label: Matador
Cat.nr.: OLE-9561
Year of release: 2011

SIDE A:
01. Chorea
02. Eumenides ( Mogwai Remix)

SIDE B:
01. Corridors Installation

Esben And The Witch - Marching Song [12"]

This was the first single that was lifted off their Violet Cries debut album, and with reason. MARCHING SONG is definitely one of ESBEN AND THE WITCH's best songs. Actually the song that got me hooked when i first heard songs from their 33 EP online. The other tracks on this EP are non-album tracks. There's a sticker on the sleeve saying it's limited, and Discogs claims there were only 300 made, but i don't know if that's true.

Label: Matador
Cat.nr.: OLE-9461
Year of release: 2010

SIDE A:
01. Marching Song
02. Souvenirs

SIDE B:
01. Done Because We Are Too Many

Esben And The Witch - Violet Cries [12", LP]

First time i heard about ESBEN AND THE WITCH was when some online zine wrote something about their 33 EP. Can't remember which one but I think it was voted their Demo Of The Week or so. I listened to the tracks on the band's Myspace and decided i just had to have this; i hadn't heard a new band that good for a long time. When i wanted to order a physical copy from the band, i got the message they were all sold out, but then a few days later i got a mail from frontman Daniel Copeman saying it was available as a free download from their Last.fm page. Since then we kept in touch occasionally, and i've seen them live a couple of times and went for some drinks after their shows. Really nice people.
Anyway, VIOLET CRIES came out in January 2011 and it was very well-received. It contains two re-recorded songs from their demo (Eumenides and Marching Song) and eight other songs. Haunting nightmare pop, as they called it themselves, and the icy cover artwork fits perfectly with the album. An excellent debut.

Label: Matador
Cat.nr.: OLE 939-1
Year of release: 2011

SIDE A:
01. Argyria
02. Marching Song
03. Marine Fields Glow
04. Light Streams
05. Hexagons IV

SIDE B:
01. Chorea
02. Warpath
03. Battlecry / Mimicry
04. Eumenides
05. Swans