Singles

The Joy Formidable - Popinjay

Antonio Rowe 08/04/2010

Rating: 3/5

The Joy Formidable are a trio from North Wales and are made up of Ritzy Bryan (Vocals/Guitar), Rhydian Dafydd (Vocals/Bass) and Matt Thomas (Drums). It also looks as though they're another new band being heralded as the 'next best thing' having already been cited as 'ones to watch' by The Guardian. They're also the first signing for Passion Pit's label Black Bell Records.

'Popinjay' is the band's 6th single and a taste of what's to come, when their debut album is released in the summertime. I wasn't aware of their existence up until this review and don't know much about their previous music catalogue. But one thing does quickly become very obvious having just listened to 'Popinjay' once: that the Joy Formidable like to use as much recorded content as possible.

'Popinjay' is one hell of a jam-packed song, this is also to the band's detriment with the song's elements sometimes becoming quite overwhelming. There are many layers of both instrumental and vocal content and when all meshed together occasionally the vocals are lost in an avalanche of powerful reoccurring guitar riffs and relentless drumming.

Although after a couple of listens the song becomes more endearing and easier to comprehend. For a more pleasant listen I would have liked the song not to be so over-produced and possibly stripped back so the catchy melody that lies deep down underneath all the dense textures. Predominantly this is a good tune and achieves its purpose, which is to get people if not excited at least intrigued for what's to come when their debut album is released later this year. And if the album is full of songs with similar characteristics to those of 'Popinjay' then it will most certainly make an impact.

Release date: 05/04/2010