By The Sea at The Epstein Theatre
With By the Sea teasing fans by leaking a demo on their Soundcloud for a limited time, Getintothis‘ Pablo Dahill makes sure not to miss out.
Teasing us with a taste of things to come, By the Sea have casually left a 1:44 demo entitled Devil in Me on their Soundcloud page to whet the appetite of fans and non-fans alike.
The Meols 4 piece have garnered quite the reputation as one of the finest acts on Merseyside over the last few years, culminating in November’s Epstein Theatre gig where they exuded the confidence of a band at the peak of their powers. We commented at the time that single You’re the Only One reminded us of The Cure, albeit with happier overtones. Devil in Me however, is far closer to something from Joy Division and yet has also managed to maintain a bright vibe despite the obvious darkness of the lyrics. That said, it would be wrong to imply that By the Sea sound like either of these bands as there is a very current yet original sound cutting through with the track.
We may also be seeing the next natural step for the band through guest vocals from the beautifully understated voice of MiNNETONKA. Her voice provides a real air of mystery and intrigue to the Devil in Me, leaving us enthralled as to what we can expect the band to produce in the near future. MiNNETONKA’s melody perfectly counterbalances the low end of By the Sea frontman Liam Power’s vocals, and it would be a shame if we didn’t hear further collaboration between the two in the near future.
By the Sea have managed to keep us guessing as to what they’ve been working on while still making us want to hear more. If that was their intention, it’s a job well done. Nonchalantly labelled with the words “some demo for a bit”, you need to listen to this while you still can.
