Setting Circles, The Next Best Thing?
Finally, the god of music has given us a band with that thing called diversity. Setting Circles are a band from Exeter, a small city in East Devon. The first thing we find with this band is that they're fairly tricky to place into one genre and say “Here, stay.” While the band likes to call themselves psy-metal, they're clearly open to interpretations from the fans; guitarist Jake Jordan-Wall has said “If you can, try and define it [the music] yourself.”
Perhaps the difficulty to define the music into one genre stems from the four distinct personalities that make the band up. On vocals we have Jamie Beard, who successfully juggles singing with Setting Circles and his project as a popular local dubstep artist. Guitarist Jake Jordan-Wall has a love for metal which most definitely shines through. Bassist Jack O'Hara boasts a mix of tastes ranging from the heavy through to the prog to the softer stuff. Last but by no means least, drummer George Woodward prefers an old school taste fresh from the 80s. The four boys are drawn together by a love of music and the desire to bring a new genre to music.
Live these boys work hard to ensure a good show. Being present at their first gig, we could see nerves but they marched on and delivered a great show, standing out from the other bands. Since then, their popularity has grown and they've been gigging relentlessly, sharing their sound with the people of Devon.
The band's latest single Breathe Deep has been wildly popular. And it's easy to see why. We find ourselves surprised by the change in pace, the song is not what we expect it to be. An insane solo and vocals that somehow linger with you. It's a song that definitely infects the mind, difficult to stop playing over and over in your head.
But then we a softer side to the boys in the form of ballads such as their newly unveiled Reach. A soft song that brings that warm fuzzy feeling inside. With lyrics such as “If my life were a candle, you would be the flame,” it's easy to imagine the girls swooning and falling at their feet. Perhaps a little more mainstream than other tracks, this song is easy on the ears and the one you listen to when you're in the mood for cuddles.
Amongst the songs that brag their impressive interpretations of music, perhaps the most disappointing would be the band's first song Set Me Free. While not a bad song in its own rights, a basic and typical riff repeats throughout the song. This demo could do with some spicing up and definitely better mixing, which the boys may intend to do with plans of an EP on the horizon.
With said EP being planned and an offer from Replug Records, all we can say is exciting things and a future await these Devon lads. Whether they can bring psy-metal into the world of music or not can only be told by time. But with their fans helping and supporting them it looks promising. Setting Circles can be found at Facebook as well as YouTube and Twitter.
