The turn of the century was a weird time. Computer bugs, terrible public art projects that captured no-one’s imagination, and a stagnation of the indie music world as electronic music took over the mainstream. I’d moved back to London and was working in digital media as a writer. It was a time of immense change and at the tipping point of the dotcom crash. Culture was shifting in ways that no one could reliably predict, although we all tried. I lived for music as much as words. Still do.
I was as happy raving as I was amongst a rock crowd. There was a lot of crossover still happening as genres blurred. Still, it took a lot to stand out of a crowded market. I shopped for promo CDs on Berwick Street, but also began my era of buying by label name. So, when I happened across a slew of promos singles from a band signed to Mo’Wax, my interest piqued. That band was South.
Their debut, From Here On In, was a mix of dance beats and acoustic-y songs. I loved it and still have the original CD featuring plasticine figurines of the band on the front. It’s since been released on vinyl alongside a 2LP set of singles and outtakes. Of course, I have a copy. It still stands up all this time later.
And that’s the thing about South. They were timeless and remain so. The mix of electronic sounds and bleeps, alongside the layered shimmers of strings and the gorgeous melodic guitars never seems to go out of fashion. And yet they were never fashionable eclispsed by the likes of Elbow and Doves on the indie side of things, Radiohead on the prog-indie side of things, and all manner of dance music genres captured everything else. Yet, in the UK, Japan and Germany they were rightly lauded by fan and critics alike.
Moving from Mo’Wax to Kinetic Records for their follow-up, With The Tides, the band consolidated their sound and their songwriting skills moved up several notches, too.
Here was a band where every member was a talented musician, and when you saw them live they spent time shifting around the instruments, even taking turns singing lead vocals, although it was Joel Cadbury who stepped up for that role most often. They clearly found a supporter in Lavelle when signed to Mo’Wax and I’m sure they picked up some of his production techniques while recording From Here On In. The fruits of that time are not only present on With The Tides, they’re ratcheted up to the max.
But where Yorke and Co. prefer to be more noodle-jazz vibe, South use more traditional instrumentation to create soundscapes that whisk you away and swirl you within the depths of the music. And in those many eddies you’re happy to drown. Even at their heaviest, most post-rock out moments, such as the final track, Threadbare, they never forget the need to have a hook that pulls you in, a melody you can hum.
On Colours in Waves, and also Same Old Story, and Silver Sun, they shift tempo without wrongfooting the listener, building layer upon layer of musical detail that means every listen brings something new to your ears. If that sounds overwhelming, it actually isn’t. Compositionally, South really understood how to create memorable songs. The difference between Fragile Day and Nine Lives as the album approaches its mid-point is the perfect example of this, especially with the latter which sounds as if it could have been written by McCartney thanks to its Eleanor Rigby-esque strings.
I want to pause here. Because I’m still unsure how I might have come across this band had I not been hunting promos. While I do recall HMV on Oxford Street, London having a display for their debut, whenever I mentioned South’s name to people they look at me like I’ve said something in a language that’s alien and unintelligible. I then get messages about how they can’t believe this band passed them by. And the thing is, not a single one of their three albums or multiple Eps drops to average. It’s all excellent quality. Every. Single. Song.
That quality is on show with the final two tracks of With The Tides. What I Find is a simple guitar lick, underpinning a more melodic acoustic guitar line and a simple run on an electric guitar. That’s all there is, plus a voice. Yet it’s so much more than the sum of its parts.
And then we’re at the end. Threadbare could have been the album’s opening track, as it’s the closest sound to South’s debut. And it’s the most upbeat track even if it starts from that humble acoustic guitar, it finishes in a haze of distorted guitars and riffs that wouldn’t be frowned upon by a heavy rock back. There’s feedback and bleeps, as well, which while making my comparisons to Radiohead easier to accept, also shows that they are very much a different band.
I hope With The Tides gets the reissue treatment, as it’s tough to find on vinyl secondhand. Not only that, I truly believe that had South started five years ago, they’d be huge now. Ahead of their time, they’re deserving of wider attention. You should give them yours.