Hello reader,
How are you today?
We’re happy to discuss another group that has returned to creating great music: Gently Tender. The South London-based sextet, with chamber pop, post-punk, and neo-psychedelic melodies, was formed by most of the members of 2010’s indie rockers the Palma Violets. The present-day lineup of Gently Tender features frontman Samuel Fryer, bassist Peter Mayhew, drummer William Martin Doyle, alongside guitarist Adam Brown and newest members Francesca Brierley on keyboards and backing vocals, and Evie Hilyer-Ziegler on violin and backing vocals. Mayhew, Doyle, and Brown also join in backing vocals as well.
In 2022, the Gently Tender released their debut album, Take Hold Of Your Promise!, which garnered praise from the press and new fans alike. And last week they announced their new EP, titled This Was Once Fields, will be released Friday, May 22nd via TODO Records. Of the concept, Fryer said the following via press release, “The songs that make up this project represent different chapters, memories, thoughts, and reflections on the life I have lived in the city. How I’ve always managed to live here but never felt like I actually belong in such a loud and fast-paced, nerve-jangling environment. To give myself breaks from writing in the darkness of my windowless studio in Haringey, I have been walking the green belt of London for 14 years, and I never imagined it would provide me with so much inspiration. It has provided me with a universe of material that I can dive back into when I need to escape, and that’s where this music was born.”
With the announcement of the new EP came the lead single and all-around excellent tune, “A Mound A Field”. It’ll captivate many listeners with its harmonies and solo vocals, the latter of which open the song in a neo-psychedelic trance for a moment before picking up speed to form a rollicking melody full of slick guitar, drum, and percussion work. At the song’s quickest pace, I feel like it belongs in an action-based movie scene. Maybe of yore, maybe modern. What do you think when you listen to it? Then the melody abruptly slows down, and we get beautiful instrumentation and harmonies. Truly gorgeous. Cue the bigger band and orchestral elements, like cello, violin, sax, trumpets (2!), flute, and trombone. I think it might be the best song on the EP. I enjoyed it so much on first listen that I knew I’d have to share it as part of our Singles Spotlight series here on SWT.
Fryer explained the song’s origins and meaning via press release, “A Mound A Field is the essentially inspired by the beginning of a walk that I did two years ago. It started in Ridge, a small village in Hertfordshire, and went all the way down through the hills of North London, into central and finished at Temple on the north bank of the Thames. The song is capturing the moment when you’re walking the open fields and then are suddenly hit with the view of the vast open city, being aware of the changes in emotion, how it changes the way you breathe, and how it compels you to meditate on all life on Earth, how it has developed for all good and worse.”
Take a listen and see what you think for yourself.
Check out the black & white shot, hillside video for the song, “A Mound A Field” from Gently Tender’s YouTube channel:
(All credits and rights to Gently Tender)
The cover art for This Was Once Fields EP (out 5/22):
The track list for This Was Once Fields EP:
- A Mound A Field
- Wild In The Uplands
- Go Get It
- 10000 Steps From The Door
- The City of The Beast
You can connect with and listen to Gently Tender at the following links:
- Website: gentlytender.co.uk
- YouTube: youtube.com/@gentlytender4922
- Instagram: instagram.com/gentlytenderband
- Spotify: Gently Tender on Spotify
- Bandcamp: gentlytender.bandcamp.com
- Apple Music: Gently Tender on Apple Music
- Facebook: facebook.com/gentlytender/?locale=en_GB
Scummy Water Tower Productions co-founder, reviewer, business manager, and editor. Thank you for visiting this site, scummywatertower.com, and YouTube for Water Tower Sessions and SWT Interviews. And all of our socials.
Questions, feedback, or more? Contact me: alex@scummywatertower.com
