�HOLDING ON HOPEFULLY�
(album/ BOOBY TRAP RECORDS)
Far from being a small victory in any respect, this 11-track album (though do stick around for the hidden bonus track) is nothing short of being one of the most seductively stunning collections of songs I have ever heard. Truly enchanting, �A Poor Man�s Opera� opens this masterpiece, before the mesmerisingly beautiful, poetic genius of �Come What May.�
If you didn�t realise it wasn�t them, you might presume these guys were in fact Coldplay, as vocalist James Milford�s exquisitely tuned singing voice suavely warms hearts before breaking them into trillions of pieces. Likewise, �Thawed� is just so melodramatically melancholic and wholly sensitive you�ve just got to go with the flow and love this band for all they�re worth.
Not afraid of experimenting to tasteful degrees, as in their �Poor Man�s Opera, �Kid�s Chorus� utilises samples of speech to hint that the Small Victories hold the likes of Mogwai in high regard.
With no less than three James� in this quintet, James Chant is the guitarist who steers his emotive melodies into the Small Victories fold, while James Hale provides some essential keyboard-based tunes as in �Marzipan Fortune,� in which Milford puts on his most striking Jeff Buckley-spirited voice.
They even suggest that some of their songs are politically motivated. �Go Back To Bed America� and its lyric �Freedom of speech is ours to exercise; It just depends how loud we shout� is the proof.
Still, for the bulk of �Holding On Hopefully, the songs therein are poignantly abstract and euphorically downbeat reflections of life and love that might just jolt you into believing that this band is one of the best bands in the world for real.
Coldplay have conquered the world, and I only hope Small Victories can hold out and do the same.
(Steve Rudd)
www.smallvictories.co.uk