When we talk seriously about the release of “Architecture Of The Ages”, that exquisite album that THE HEPBURNS and Estella Rosa made during the confinement, we really highlight the two contrasting faces of “Seagulls On A Frozen Lake”: its delicious melodies, with touches of bossa and lounge that work in contrast to the profoundly sad lyrics. That is why we have chosen this single as the last digital release for this exquisite album – the song excites and moves in so many different directions, it can be enjoyed in so many different ways, and it creates a special feeling in the listener. In addition to the title track, this release also includes a previously unreleased song, “Bad Before”, which pushes that multi-directionality even further. As the bass and drums of Mike Thomas and Les Mun construct an amazing “partido alto”, and Estella Rosa‘s beautiful vocal imparts kaleidoscopic light and color to a song that is once again bathed in bossanova, Matt‘s lyrics talk bluntly about the hardships of growing old, and the existential plight of those who find that “old age does not come alone” and that “pieces of you disappear long before it all ends”. Like listening to a João Gilberto record while reading Jean-Paul Sartre, one does not know whether to dance or despair. But don’t despair. A song like this is for dancing to, and no matter how bleak the subject matter, THE HEPBURNS̵ [ Read more ]

TRACKLIST: 01 The Other Side Of Grey  02 Five Miles Of Line  03 On The Telephone  04 Move To Wales  05 Seagulls On A Frozen Lake 06 Mermaid  07 What Was Not Became What Was  08 Creature Of The In-Between  09 Lockdown To Liverpool  10 Northern Europeans

The band formed by Matt Jones, Mike Thomas and Les Mun, THE HEPBURNS, has always been considered one of the most exquisite bands to come out of the C86 era. They have worked with labels as prestigious as Cherry Red and Radio Khartoum, and when they have felt more comfortable self-releasing material, they have done that. Yes, they have many things in common with THE BRILLIANT CORNERS, THE HIT PARADE and THE WEATHER PROPHETS, but their elegant arrangements and harmonies, their admiration for Burt Bacharach and soundtracks by Ennio Morricone and John Barry, add a touch of delicious sophistication to their sound – a sound which is completed with the characters that Matt includes in the songs: charming losers stuck in impossible situations, somewhere between humor and tragedy.

In the middle of the pandemic, Matt met Estella Rosa, the singer for the jangle pop duet NAH and founder of the blog Fadewayradiate, through an interview. They were soon talking about doing a song together. In just three months, they had recorded a full album with 10 songs. “Architecture Of The Ages&rd [ Read more ]

While we are still waiting for the incredible “Architecture Of The Ages”, the collaboration THE HEPBURNS and Estella Rosa (NAH) worked on during confinement, and which will be their full-length debut on Elefant Records, we have a new advance for you in the form of a Digital Single. “Five Miles Of Line” is an example of their trademark excellent work: sunny melodies, delicious harmonies, echoes of sixties and lounge music, and the outpouring of C86 flooding the room. The trumpet and the parapapas. Pop in its purest, most precious state. And for the occasion, a previously unreleased track for the B-side. “See You Around” is a farewell to confinement, all the characters that accompany Matt Jones, Mike Thomas and Les Mun in that period. A song that came about the days before streets were opened again, and that revelry seeps into all of this song’s marvelous choruses that reminds us of vocal groups from the sixties like THE FREE DESIGN and THE 5TH DIMENSION.

And to go with the launch, a delicious video filmed by James Owen and directed by Daniel Cuenca following trains, tracing the coast, leaving Cardiff, reaching the sea. At the same time, we can see Matt, Mike and Les playing, connecting with Estella in the choruses. Two new objects of tremendously detailed work that leave us craving that imminent album more than before.

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We love indie-pop, jangle, sunshine pop. We don’t have to keep saying it. We love bossa nova and soundtracks from the sixties and seventies. That’s why we are happy to announce that the next THE HEPBURNS album will be released on Elefant Records. And what’s more, it’s in tandem with Estella Rosa, the singer from the jangle-pop group NAH. The collaboration came about in the midst of the pandemic and brought us “Architecture Of The Ages”, a very special album that we are advancing with “The Other Side Of Grey”.

Matt Jones, Mike Thomas and Les Mun are still showing off their exquisite arrangements, their dreamy, polychromatic harmonies, and those stories about loveable losers that only someone like Matt Jones can illustrate so well. And “The Other Side Of Grey” shows us how to tell the story of a person drowning in self-pity through a song full of light. Artists, perspectives, nuances, emotions. Wonderful. And Estella’s sweet voice is the perfect counterpoint, the cherry on top of the cake of your dreams.

And what could be better than a video by Pooley, from Woom Studio, who once again shows off his good taste, his ability to play with a vintage esthetic and make it shine under a setting full of plasticity. In this case, it is a chromatic journey, starting in a futuristic city in black and white, where a multicolor sun starts to shine intermittently, and there are many tributes to classi [ Read more ]