PALE BLUE EYES – RESIDENT, BRIGHTON 6.9.23
This evening the rather wonderful young electro-modernist guitar group Pale Blue Eyes dropped by Resident records in Kensington Gardens in order to perform a half dozen tunes in support of their latest long-player, ‘This House’, which dropped on 1st September.
Pale Blue Eyes formed in South Devon and refer to themselves as “Sonic Yorks vs. the richest Devon cream-pop”, The lineup consists of Matthew Board on lead vocals and guitar, Aubrey Simpson on bass and Lucy Board on drums and backing vocals. For live performances they are often also joined by John Gooding on synths. The band released their debut single ‘Motionless’/‘Chelsea’ back in 2021 on their own Broadcast Recordings label.
‘This House’ is the trio’s second album, following on from last year’s rock solid ‘Souvenirs’ which came out on 2nd September 2022 on the Full Time Hobby label. That album was mixed and mastered by Dean Honer (The Moonlandingz, Róisín Murphy, I Monster, Human League). ‘This House’ is again on Full Time Hobby and again mixed and mastered by Dean Honer.
These two albums are deeply meaningful releases to the members of Pale Blue Eyes, in particular frontman Matthew as the house pictured on the front cover of the new LP is his childhood home. A home just outside Totnes in Devon where happiness, music and memories were everything. One could surmise that the new ‘This House’ record is the mother of the duo and last year’s ‘Souvenirs’ is the father. The sounds contained on both these releases significantly highlight the fact that they have been a journey and a way of drawing a line and moving on in the world after the grief of parental loss experienced first hand by Matthew. Something that has filtered right through the other band members, in particular Matthew’s wife Lucy. The making of this music has become a means of recovery. I absolutely see this and understand this and can empathise with this having also lost both of my parents as well as a partner.
The unleashing of ‘This House’ signifies the full stop at the end of that particular life’s journey. The couple now have up sticks and moved to Lucy’s Yorkshire roots for a new beginning. A new beginning that will be full of inspiration, life-affirming human connections, outstanding scenery, and the history of Sheffield’s unique electronic music scene. They will absorb their new found surroundings, friends new and old, and no doubt lay down a new life platter next September, which may be the new Sheffield Steel in sound…time will tell.
Back to this evening at Resident and the queue along Kensington Gardens make their way into the store not long before 6:30pm to note Pale Blue Eyes equipment waiting ready and primed for their owners to arrive. Matthew will take care of the Fender Jaguar guitar with its nine foot pedals, Aubrey will take the Squier Precision bass through its paces via its eight foot pedals, and the drumkit and Roland drumpads and presets will be in the capable hands of Lucy.
The trio arrive at 6:32pm and are clearly overjoyed to be playing for us. I note on the floor there are several A4 sheets, one with the scribbled setlist and several others of printed type of some of the new tunes lyrics.
We are given a half dozen cuts, with a handful of those from the new record. The set off with recent single ‘More’, which is on the album. Immediately Aubrey starts his trademark head bobbing accompanied by a big smile. Lucy was initially worried about sound levels of her kit and opted for brushes instead of sticks, but by the halfway mark the brushes were put into hibernation and the drumsticks were king.
The second number was ‘Spaces’ from the new LP. I was thankfully standing right at the front and quite possibly heard Matthew murmur to Lucy that this was to be its live debut. I forgot to ask him this when getting my green vinyl record signed, but I hope that it was. The guitar was lovely and jangly and the drum pattern was bouncy.
‘Simmering’ from the album was next. This began with a decent electronic backing and headed off into Krautrock territory. It’s a psyched out number. The vocals on this and all the tunes sees Matthew deliver them in a higher pitch, which adds to the floateyness of the vibe.
‘Takes Me Over’ was given an outing and was the first with the drumsticks. There’s a real intro that The Cure would be most pleased with. There’s a host of echoey guitar noises on the go for this one. Each track appears to be receiving a louder and louder applause and whoops from the crowd.
Matthew then informs us that there are two more songs and then they will hang around with some beers. Their 2021 ‘Motionless’ single is the choice and this segues straight into ‘Our History’. This is all out Krautrock and my body is being swamped by the notes as they enter my mind, body and soul. It’s a wonderful feeling and well worth travelling here simply to hear these two tunes!
Brighton & Hove News Team Member Richie Nice referred to tonight’s performance as “Shoegazey psych dreaminess melded with post-punk urgency. Lovely!” and I wholeheartedly concur with him and would also like to add that the trio are also extremely nice people as well. An instance of this was after their circa 30 minute instore set had finished, the fans patiently queued up all around the shop in order to get their CD’s or limited edition green vinyl or limited edition clear vinyl editions of ‘This House’ signed by the trio, and this took just as long as their set as all three of them caringly engaged with every single fan! There were many big smiles and laughs as a result. Fab work guys!
Pale Blue Eyes will be heading out on tour this coming winter in support of the ‘This House’ album. They begin at Hertford Corn Exchange on 2nd November and from there whizz all over the country visiting Southampton, Leeds, Penrith, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Nottingham, Sheffield, Oxford, Birmingham, London, Bristol and Manchester, before rounding off here in Brighton on 19th November, where they will be hosted by Patterns on Marine Parade.
Tickets for all dates of this forthcoming tour can be purchased from paleblueeyes.co.uk and tickets for the Brighton concert at Patterns on Sunday 19th November can also be purchased HERE. Support on the tour will come from Brighton based Ciel.
The purchase options for ‘This House’ album can be located HERE.
Pale Blue Eyes setlist:
‘More’ (from 2023 ‘This House’ album)
‘Spaces’ (from 2023 ‘This House’ album)
‘Simmering’ (from 2023 ‘This House’ album)
‘Takes Me Over’ (from 2023 ‘This House’ album)
‘Motionless’ (from 2021 ‘Motionless’ / ‘Chelsea’ single)
‘Our History’ (from 2023 ‘This House’ album)
