With a stack of CDs to choose from I reached for Mayhew’s EP, ‘Tinderbox’, purely because my superficiality led me to the album with the cover that I liked the most; this album cover is adorable. The only problem I’m faced with now is that I’ve got a fair few CDs to get through and I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to turn Mayhew off.
For me, folk can be hit-and-miss. So much of the genre is taken up with drowsy, nondescript acoustica making it pretty easy to lose individuality in this field. This is a problem that Mayhew have got absolutely nothing to worry about.
With five members they’ve got quite a lot going on at once, but not in a shambolic way. Each instrument/vocal adds an extra level of depth to the music and makes ‘Tinderbox’ a supreme pleasure to listen to. The guitars manage to accomplish nimbleness whilst staying powerful and I’d be quite happy for Cathy Wilcock to sing me to sleep every night with that dreamy voice of hers (if that wasn’t stupidly creepy). I’ve got to take a minute to mention and give praise to the inclusion of a cello – pure genius. Maybe I’d actually like Chris Lyon to cello me to sleep. I know, I know – creepy, right? This EP may have possibly soothed me too much…
This Edinburgh-based band of loveliness have beaten around 1600 other bands, claiming first prize in a competition run by Q magazine and Glastonbury Festival, to secure themselves a slot on the Acoustic Stage on Sunday afternoon. So if you’re heading off to the biggest (and possibly best) festival in the world this weekend (you lucky sod) make sure you check them out.