Starting out as an accompanying band to lead singer Matt Wright’s solo song-writing, King Compass formed after the group met at university, drawn to each other’s creative innovation. With the strongest influences being between soul and folk, the group’s mesh of playing styles work together to create a unique and hypnotic sound. After a year of gigging, the group begun work on their first release – the EP ‘Contours.’ Fellow university student James Ratcliffe took to producing the EP, and, after exciting contributions to instrumentation & ideas, became a full member of the band. Now in their second year of performing together, the band’s soulful and ‘dreamy’ sound has developed to become more polished and striking, with tracks such as ‘Frozen Ocean’ being driven by ethereal vocals at the start, then ending in a wall-of-sound crescendo, hinting towards influences such as Bon Iver. ‘Bad Blood’ builds an ambient soundscape with choral harmonies and picked guitar, backseat-driven by synth bass and e-bow swoops. 'There's A Place' is the most ethereal of the three; with it's soundscape - like form, it almost acts as a theme song for the King Compass universe. The EP is surrounded by concepts of adventure, with intricate lyrics contemplating day-to-day life in vibrant poetic imagery. The cover & title are inspired by the idea that everyone has a world of information and beauty inside them, making them their own landscape. The EP launch party took place on 11th Feb in the venue Lumiere. The event sold out, and was the first chance to demonstrate the evolution of the band's sound. Having built up interest in the London scene, King Compass hope to further extend their audience with more equally exciting events throughout the year, with the EP being their first release to date. Inspirations: Bon Iver, Lianne La Havas, Radiohead, Haitus Kaiyote Likes - the drink 'Ting', expressing absurdity, any music that takes you places you've not been.
they’re a band that’s really worth keeping an eye on