The thing with writing about music is, there’s just so bloody much of it. As such, some bands and artists will pass you by completely, some will dawdle on your periphery, dipping in and out of earshot with an occasional single or album, and others will become something of a permanent fixture in your life. October Drift fall into the latter category.
With their debut album Forever Whatever almost certainly the best thing to happen this year (and I’m only being mildly hyperbolic), the announcement that the band are set to release a follow-up EP so soon after was a welcome surprise. And if the first taste of it is anything to go by, we’re in for something special.
“Like The Snow We Fall” is the first single to be taken from the EP, and follows a similar vein to the more tender moments of said debut album (Milky Blue”, “Naked”). A lone acoustic guitar is soon joined by frontman Kieran Roy’s recognisable vocal; the momentum building steadily over the track’s four-minute runtime.
Ever a band with a penchant for toying with a track’s dynamics, the stripped back nature here soon gives way to swells of orchestra. Sombre and grandiose, they replace the band’s usual towering walls of guitar in favour of something softer, though certainly no less imposing; an emotional gut-punch in the form of strings and reverb.
Indeed, while it’s easy to imagine ‘Like the Snow We Fall” fitting easily beside any of the track’s on their debut, there’s something of a further maturity on offer here, a willingness to explore, to deviate from a blueprint enough to create something familiar, yet that feels utterly fresh. A welcome return for a band who seem to do no wrong.