Maps - You Don't Know Her Name (Mute)
3/5
By: Chris O'Toole
Being born in Northampton was recognised by the former far-right Thatcher administration as a life threatening disability. Life expectancy in the town hung around the low forties even into the twenty first century, sanitation was maintained at third world standards and the local music venues were all controlled by a local mafia that seemed to favour 'ironic' acts such as Mika, the Feeling and other outright tripe over so called 'talent'.
However, things have changed. The town is well on the road to rehabilitation. Drug prices continue to fall, keeping the kids off the streets, the Carlsberg factory is upping its capacity on a weekly basis to keep the streets flowing with Tenants super, the monolithic bus station has been given permission to expand and the number of parking spaces has grown by 6% in the last three years alone.
Out of this new dawn has grown Maps, the recording alias for James Chapman. A local resident since birth Chapman has come good, releasing an album 'We Can Create' on Mute records and launching a successful career. Indeed the album has recently been nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, and has an exceptional chance of winning. The album was recorded entirely in his bedroom on analogue equipment and has found acclaim amongst a wide cross section of the musical press and public.
'You Don't Know Her Name' is taken from this record and will be released on 30th July in the United Kingdom. Its whispered introduction and instant explosion create an electronic pocket symphony within the first few seconds and continue to grow from there. It is a curious mix of electronic beats and rock guitar, but the two meld together seamlessly to create something akin to the present shoegaze incarnation of M83. The track is candy all over, blissful without being sickly, like My Bloody Valentine on an upper drug rather than a spiralling path of self loathing destruction. However the vocals leave a little to be desired, almost flat and certainly languid, they demonstrate that technical wizardry doesn't always equate to passionate delivery.
Nonetheless this is a high quality piece from a blossoming artist. A real diamond from the rough of Northampton.
Watch the video to 'You Don't Know Her Name' HERE.
Artists in this article: Maps, Maps of Norway
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