At the end of last year, we reviewed ‘The Loft Tapes‘, the debut album from Sheffield-based collective Mishra. Our reviewer, David Auckland, declared that the album had forced its way into his top ten albums of 2019. He described it as ‘a powerful and heady cocktail, yet at times almost mystical as well, bringing together the flavours and ingredients of four different continents, and producing a sumptuous feast for the ears.’ Those diverse flavours and colours are also present on their new single ‘Songs of a Wiser Hand’ from which we are premiering the video for the A-side track “A Wiser Hand”.
“Our new single ‘Songs of a Wiser Hand’ has a contrasting A-side and B-side; because our debut album The Loft Tapes (released December 2019) had a diverse feel, with different influences (Indian classical, Irish instrumental) coming to the fore on different tracks, we wanted to continue this with the single. The decision to release them now came about because of the lockdown; not being able to perform anymore made us want to put something out there to say ‘Hi everyone, we’re still here!’. That’s been one positive aspect of this experience; it galvanised us to put a huge amount of energy into this one relatively small project.
“The A side ‘Wiser Hand’ is all about musical inspiration, and how sometimes letting go of your thinking side and just letting your hands play can lead to the best musical expression. We reached out to some of our musical friends and asked them to help us create this sweeping, almost orchestral sound for the track, so as well as the core band (Kate Griffin, Ford Collier, Joss Mann-Hazell, and John Ball) there’s Alex Garden (The Drystones) on strings, Alex Lyon on clarinet and backing vocals, and Emerson Lee-Scott on drums. Our bassist Joss Mann-Hazell arranged the string parts, taking inspiration from Indian film music. All the musicians are featured in the video, playing together from our different homes, but the lyrics come to the fore in the chorus, when Kate sings ‘I can’t say it on my own’.”
Like their debut album it’s an outstanding new offering.
As to the B-side, they tell us “The B-side ‘Headlights’ evolved from a tune Kate wrote for a friend, which we’ve been performing for the last year under the title ‘Cesca’s’. The song element was composed on two trips down the M1 from Sheffield to Gloucestershire a year apart. The endless road and the constantly changing and uncertain existence of a musician inspired the lyrics, no doubt heightened by the current pandemic situation.”
‘Songs of a Wiser Hand’ single and ‘The Loft Tapes’ album are available to download from Bandcamp –https://mishramusic.bandcamp.com/
More here: https://www.mishramusic.co.uk/