Contemplating desire and searching for permanence with Inscape

In the words of band member Nick Baxter: “I feel this has something to do with living in an age of impermanence and instability as things are always changing so rapidly”. Members Russell, James Robinson and Nick Baxter recorded this EP at Big Jelly Studios — a hidden chapel turned recording studio in Ramsgate — with a friend, Tom Carmichael, who recently has worked with the likes of Jamie Issac, Oscar Jerome, Jerkcurb and Childhood. The result of their efforts is Momentary Love, a record which finds the team approaching broken relationships in a way that’s both dreamlike and detached.

We imagine ourselves at the dead end of this fictitious relationship, as if we’ve already been convinced there’s no future left. With vocals reminiscent of the attitude of My Bloody Valentine and Zulu Pearls, teamed with the weightlessness of Washed Out and Blouse, the EP captures the warm glow and energy felt at a live gig stumbled upon late on a hazy Friday— with time still left in the night leaving us with the tantalising mystery of what might happen.

As the EP opens with “Timeless”, we’re already faced with the sharp contrast of the lyrics bringing us into a relationship that’s already broken down (“I don’t recognise myself anymore”), teamed with the calm, oceanic rhythm of its melody. You wouldn’t expect that a band with this Californian a pace to be grown right out of South London. The syrupy voice of frontman Ben Russell, akin to Real Estate’s Martin Courtney, holds us throughout the tracks, much like memories of a loved one may peek out of the corners of our mind unknowingly.

Despite its name, we suddenly emerge into murky King Krule-esque territory, with the lazy, drawn-out guitar chords and brassy notes of “Daybreak”. As fellow Londoners will know all too well, the first glimpse of the morning often hangs heavy, and so we meet the darkened morning with this love that’s no longer filled with desire: “The winds carry you to me as dust”.

When even Peckham is getting views among the pages of The New York Times, it’s hard to find that which hasn’t yet been discovered. When one thinks of mystery, it’s often hidden doors in Berlin that come to mind and not the streets of South London, filled with barber shops and fruit sellers. Yet there remain some hidden gems, like indie pop concerts that take over disused chapels, or Italo-disco DJs armed with obscure records surprising crowds in renovated carparks. South London remains the beating heart of a scene that breeds the best: from grime to subdued shoegaze. It’s a scene that should be proud to call Inscape its members.