Trembling Bells
“Trembling Bells are my kind of band.” – Joe Boyd
Trembling Bells are a Glasgow based band who seek to reanimate the mythic landscapes of Great Britain via a love for Traditional Folk, Early music and canonical Rock. Founded in early 2008 by renowned UK drummer, Alex Neilson, Trembling Bells have enjoyed two successful British tours and rave reviews for their debut album, Carbeth (Honest Jon’s records). These include ‘debut album of the month’ (Uncut, July 2009), 4-star review in Mojo (May 2009), David Fricke’s ‘recommended album of the month’ (Rolling Stone, May 2009) and ‘recommended UK band for 2009’ (New York Times, 12/4/09). Carbeth has also appeared in several Best of 2009 charts (Uncut, Wire, The Times, Frieze magazine).
Additionally, Trembling Bells have been heralded by such influential musical figures as record producer, Joe Boyd (“Trembling Bells are my kind of band…”) and Paul Weller who sited Carbeth as his favourite album of 2009 in Mojo magazine (“Carbeth is a great album. Really folky but not slavish and there is a mystery in there.”). Trembling Bells were featured in Will Hodgkinson’s book Ballad of Britain and Jeanette Leech’s book Shifting Sands. Both books can be read as surveys of the contemporary psychedelic folk movement.
This acclaim has ensured favourable comparisons to such folk-rock pioneers as Incredible String Band and Richard Thompson, and indeed Trembling Bells were invited to participate in a prestigious Incredible String Band tribute concert (A Very Cellular Song) at the Barbican, London (June 2009), gaining particular mention in the Guardian’s 5-star review of the concert.
Trembling Bells have just finished recording their second album, Abandoned Love, for Honest Jon’s records (due out in spring 2009 to coincide with the SXSW festival). They feel it is their most successful attempt to synthesise traditional folk forms with the bathetic romanticism of Country music, the deceptive complexity of Medieval music and the swagger of Classic Rock. Trembling Bells effortlessly combine and personalise these superficially disparate musical forms generating a sound that is saturated in the myths and mysteries of their native terrain but also startlingly original.
