Esben and the Witch has no interest in labelling its sound

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      In the Danish fairy tale “Esben and the Witch”, the youngest and smallest of a farmer’s 12 sons saves his brothers from losing their heads to an evil, bearded old hag by tricking the witch into beheading her own daughters instead. And that’s at the beginning of the story!

      English musician Daniel Copeman plays in a band named after the grim tale. Reached at a tour stop in Toronto, the guitarist says, “It’s your classic sort of underdog fairy tale, but with a few sort of malevolent twists, where people get their heads chopped off and people get burned in ovens and stuff like that. It’s quite macabre, but we’re drawn to the imagery and everything of it.”

      Indeed, the music of Esben and the Witch, as heard on the Brighton-based trio’s debut LP, Violet Cries, is dark and foreboding, shot through with a threat of imminent sonic violence that never quite materializes, lending the whole affair an air of unresolved tension. The focal point is singer Rachel Davies’s plaintive voice, saturated in reverb and surrounded by alternately crashing and ebbing waves of delay- and chorus-treated guitar and electronics, courtesy of Copeman and multi-instrumentalist Thomas Fisher.

      You could call it gothic rock (as many already have), but not if you’re hoping to get on Copeman’s good side. He’s heard all the Siouxsie and the Banshees comparisons he wants to hear, thank you. “It feels very glib for someone to say to a band, ”˜You haven’t made something new; you’ve just made something that sounds like it was made 20 years ago,’ every time the band does something,” he says. “From a journalistic point of view, it seems strange that journalists wouldn’t want to describe what they’re hearing in a new way.”

      In fact, Copeman has no interest in labelling what Esben and the Witch does at all. “People seem to have to put a genre on something, otherwise they don’t feel like other people will be able to understand what they’re talking about,” he says. “I’d like to give people more credit than that.”

      Copeman and his bandmates probably don’t have much time to ponder what their music should be called in any case. Things have moved pretty quickly for Esben and the Witch since it put out a self-released EP called 33 in late 2009. The trio’s audience expanded immeasurably when Pitchfork posted one of its tracks, the incendiary “Marching Song”, the following January. Tours with the likes of the Big Pink, School of Seven Bells, and Deerhunter followed, as did the inking of a deal with Matador Records.

      All very awesome, and Copeman insists he isn’t taking any of it for granted. “It never gets any less exciting,” he says. “Touring North America as a headline band is something that none of us ever expected to have the opportunity to do, and it feels bizarre but wonderful at the same time. Being able to come to Vancouver and play a gig—I didn’t think I’d ever get to go to Vancouver, let alone go do something that I loved.”

      Esben and the Witch plays the Waldorf on Saturday (March 26).

      Comments

      3 Comments

      Lorne

      Mar 22, 2011 at 8:09pm

      Great review John. Esben and the Witch are new to me, but now that I have read your take on them, I will definitely be looking them up. Maybe on YouTube. Doesn't matter - I will find them. For some strange reason what you have said about them and their music appeals to me. Thanks again for a well-written and insightful review.

      Gary Jarvis

      Mar 28, 2011 at 8:09pm

      I am reading this write up post gig. It was a great night. I've been playing the Esben advance CD thanks to Matador for a few months and it's a mainstay on Last Call on Vancouver Coop Radio. Mark Bignell is also playing them on his Vancouver show Radio Bandcouver.
      coopradio.org
      garyjarvis.blogspot.com

      John Lucas

      Mar 29, 2011 at 7:46pm

      It was a good show. A lot of intensity for a band with no drummer. Also a lot of drumming for a band with no drummer! I was surprised that they were in such a small venue, but judging by the attendance it was probably the right choice. Maybe next time they'll have more of a buzz and will warrant somewhere bigger.