The Accidental

What do you get when you mix together Trunk Records co-founder (Stephen Cracknell), a member of Tunng (Sam Genders), one half of the Fence Collective duo The Bicycle Thieves (Hannah Caughlin) and the singer-songwriter Liam Bailey? The answer is the wonderfully hypnotic melodrama of The Accidental.

According to their website, their name came from a series of chance and “accidental” meetings of Cracknell and Genders over the past couple of years at various festivals. Hannah joined the band via another accident, when Adem introduced her to Cracknell as a potential housemate. She didn’t move in, but she did end up in the band. An old friend of Sam’s, Liam joined after turning in an impromptu performance at a joint Tunng / Memory Band gig.

Next month sees the release of their debut record, There Were Wolves, through Full Time Hobby and it feels as, with Spring just around the corner, they might have released the perfect record for the perfect season.

The first taster from this is ‘Illuiminated Red’. It brings to mind a mix of King Creosote and Arab Strap. The slow and perfect guitars and violin ease around the gentle vocal harmonies. There seems to be acres of space throughout the arrangement, like the sprawling hills of Snowdonia laid before your feet on a day where there’s a mere breath of wind. The lyrics themselves seem to conjour up a rural environment, describing an environment full of awe and wonder. It’s this folk-tinged approach that welcomes you into their “accidental” world.

“We had the opportunity and desire to be very free with what we were creating at the beginning.” says Caughlin. “The fact that we all had other bands and projects on the go while making this record gave a real space for the album to grow with out pressure or expectation which i think is what allowed beautiful and rare moments to filter through.”