Malpas - Rain, River, Sea (Deluxe Version) (2015)

Malpas is songwriter Ali Forbes and producer Andy Savours. Their debut album 'Rain, River, Sea' s a collection of ten gorgeous songs that meld intimate folk and ambient electronica to create something unique and beguiling. Intricate woven patterns of mandolins and acoustic guitar butt up against dark and craggy synth basslines; vocal melodies meander through a sprawl of synth noise. Whilst the music is at times dense and ambitious, at its core Malpas is about simple songs of love, loss, loneliness and finding freedom in the imagination. Their recently released debut single 'Under Her Sails' was critically acclaimed and won Malpas fans across print, online and radio, including Clash, Record of the Day Soundclip, iTunes' New Artist Spotlight, Amazing Radio, The 405, The Sun and London in Stereo, building on the support for their much lauded debut EP 'Promise' which was released in November 2014. For Andy this is his first venture out from behind the mixing desk, having previously made records with artists including The Horrors, Sigur Ros and My Bloody Valentine. Malpas began with a few fragile folk songs recorded in an attic in Kings Heath, Birmingham featuring low-key vocals embedded in interlocking loops of acoustic instruments and found percussion. The strange hypnotic atmosphere of these raw sketches seemed to draw on electronic as well as traditional organic influences, so the duo were inspired to further experiment with fusing these seemingly incompatible reference points. The unique Malpas sound then evolved over email between Birmingham and London as the duo chopped and sampled each other's ideas to create a collection of complex musical pieces that still retain the emotional directness of those initial basic demos.

Tracklist:
1 01. Malpas - Under Her Sails (03:52)
1 02. Malpas - Where the River Runs (03:58)
1 03. Malpas - Sea Decide (05:09)
1 04. Malpas - Promise (06:04)
1 05. Malpas - Us Afloat (04:09)
1 06. Malpas - The Green Light (03:53)
1 07. Malpas - Spiders (01:56)
1 08. Malpas - Charlamagne (04:49)
1 09. Malpas - Here Comes the Rain (03:08)
1 10. Malpas - June Exit Strategy (06:27)
1 11. Malpas - Choose to Lie (02:33)
1 12. Malpas - Us Afloat (Esser Remix) (03:47)
1 13. Malpas - Under Her Sails (Thinnen Remix) (03:38)
1 14. Malpas - Where the River Runs (Cloud Boat Remix) (04:16)