SLOWLY ROLLING CAMERA FUSE TRIP HOP, SOUL, ELECTRONIC AND SOUL "INTO THE SHADOW"

Formed in Cardiff in 2013 Slowly Rolling Cameraa brought together four wildly talented musicians from diverse backgrounds. The result was a captivating hybrid of these influences: trip hop, jazz, soul, electronic music fused into a new and unique soundscape. The product was their eponymous album, released on Edition Records in February 2014 and received ecstatically by press (including UK’s Guardian and Germany’s Stern Magazine) and audiences alike.

Live, they’ve proved a phenomenon, wowing audiences from Cardiff to Hamburg and at high profile festivals including Umea Jazz Festival (SE), Love Supreme (UK), London Jazz Festival (UK) and Reeperbahn Festival (DE).

SRC have spent 2014 honing their music on the road and have recently returned to the studio to record a bold and striking four track EP, Into The Shadow, for release on 26th January 2015. Into The Shadow is more cohesive and sees the band further develop their sound, integrating lush electronic soundscapes, emotive melodies, shifts in dynamic and pace. With Elliot Bennett’s virtuosic, robust groove and Robert’s exemplary production techniques, it provides the perfect setting for the captivating, soulful voice of Dionne Bennett to impressively mould he lyrics around the musical arrangement.

In order to capture the spirit and energy of the band the EP was written and recorded in only three months. Employing the creative spirit and boundless energies of Mancunian master guitarist Stuart McCallum (Cinematic Orchestra), Bristol based Ben Waghorn on sax and Aidan Thorne, Cardiff’s top double bassist, Slowly Rolling Camera’s new recording has a big sound and big ambitions to match.

The suite-like opener River’s End, a song about asking for forgiveness, introduces a powerful and emotive ambience from the off. The title track, with its gloriously empowering crescendo and sweet sound of Dave Stapleton’s string arrangements, remarks on how the power of love can transform loneliness. Anne leads us through hope to regret with a beautifully raw and emotive stripped down arrangement featuring Fender Rhodes and Bennett’s intimate vocal set against a wall of strings and choral voices. The final track, Riga, forms a satisfying conclusion, its odd time signatures, shifting patterns, beats, grooves and moods defining everything that’s great about this band: bold, brave, experimental but with deep soul.

These four tracks confirm that SRC’s promise is no transient thing and indicates progression on a steep curve. ‘Into The Shadow’ continues to push the musical boundaries and there can only be excitement at where this young, immensely talented outfit can go next. But they remain rooted, however vaunting the ambition. As the band say: “If it moves you, it’s just good music”.