Little Name

The Smiths, Burt Bacharach, The Sundays, Belle and Sebastian... if these names spark up a bit of hunger in your musical taste buds then pause for a moment and check out Little Name from Liverpool (UK). All of the aforementioned artists are listed as influences on the Little Name MySpace page, and all of them come through as obviously influential upon listening to Little Name's music. Here you'll find delicate dream-pop, heavy on the '60s French/Bacharach sound, that's perhaps more closely aligned with St. Etienne and Camera Obscura than with the bands listed above. These are songs that come across as reflections of life on a blissfully brisk sunny autumn day - shot on Super 16 - heavy on the soft focus, halation, and ambiguous plot lines. It's as if this music has always been with me, yet I'm just now hearing it for the first time. Truly, there's something decidedly familiar and welcoming about the songs on Little Name's debut How to Swim and Live.

Nearly as interesting as the music itself is the story behind how these songs ultimately saw the light of day. The story goes something like this: "after 8 years of isolation through panic attacks, Lee Barker (the man behind Little Name) was searching for greater themes, songs that said something and said something about his life." So what does he do? He goes and writes and records the album How to Swim and Live, playing "99.9% of the instruments", and sends it off (completely unsolicited) to Ann Tabor at Sleepy Records. What a pleasantly surprising day that must have been for Ann and Sleepy Records - an entire album full of music just ready for the world to throw its arms around. You've got the same pleasant surprise waiting for you in the two songs posted below.

Listen:
"How To Swim And Live"
"Tracy & I"

Visit Little Name on MySpace.

Buy How to Swim and Live on Sleepy Records.