 |
'Charley Marlowe' fused folk to hop, producing an
imaginative mix of soulful lyrics, humourous pop and sensual
worldbeat sounds.
It started in 1997, with Francesca Beard and Piers Faccini
putting poems to songs. At their first gig, a woman came up
to them and asked if it was their own original material. ‘Yes’,
they replied. Her face darkened and her voice became thick
with hatred and fear. ‘It’s shit’ she said,
passionately. It was then they knew they had something very
special.
After an early gig at the 12 Bar, they were invited by director
Jeremy Lovering to do the sound-track for his Channel 4 docu-drama
‘Fatal Embrace’. They asked percussionist Frank
Byng to put down some percussion on several tracks. Soon after,
he joined Charley Marlowe and brought along young magician
and shredder Lucas Suarez, from Snorkel. Their credo was:
The first rule of Charley Marlowe is we don’t talk about
Charley Marlowe”.
Their unique sound and commitment to secrecy attracted a loyal
grassroots following in London and Paris at venues such as
Cithea, the 12 Bar, the Scala, Subterrania, the Jazz Cafe,
the Kashmir and Cargo. They worked with producer Saul Freeman
of ‘Mandalay’ to produce a number of tracks, including
‘Circus’ and ‘Sorry’, which were once
rumoured to be available for download on peoplesound.com.
and Kevin Armstrong, of Laylow Studios also produced a number
of stunning tracks, not available anywhere. They are perhaps
most remarkable for being the world’s worst marketed
band, the music industry equivalent of the giant sloth, rarely
seen, not really looked for.
Summer 2002 saw the launch of their ep 'This Could Be You',
released by 'slowfoot' in Britain with minimal fuss. They
also appeared on various compilations, including 'Saltpetre'
and 'Brazil 5000', but don’t make a thing of it.
Charley Marlowe - Quirky performance
poet Francesca Beard fronts this bluesy, rootsy band, contributing
lyrics which linger and shivery vocals which melt into guitarist
Piers Faccini's deeper tones. The group's heroes are Serge
Gainsbourg, Nick Drake and Leadbelly, but their sound is their
own, and utterly magical at that.
- Press quote from Pick of the Night - Evening Standard
'Charley Marlowe' was...
Francesca Beard: vocals (Aries, Cancer moon, Libra rising,
born in year of the Monkey, still can’t sing)
Frank Byng: percussion (Scorpio – was terribly teased
about it by LS and FB during band practise (classic friction
between fire and water signs) producer, co-founder of Slowfoot
records.)
Piers Faccini: vocals, acoustic guitar (Taurus, talented cook,
really a painter, fabulously successful solo singer/songwriter
career in France and Italy, debut album ‘Leave No Trace’
on La Belle Bleu voted ‘Album of the Decade’ by
Le Monde. Did he learn nothing from the Wilderness Years?
Lucas Suarez: electric guitar (Star-sign Leo, born in the
year of the Monkey, demonstrator of magic tricks and kung
fu moves, now living in Barcelona, writes music for feature
films, earns too much money)
You could buy the ‘Charley Marlowe’ ep from www.slowfoot.co.uk
|
|