South London’s answer to the Temptations, Tapir!’s folk-spun debut purrs with a magical, amorphous nostalgia. Like the celluloid of an earthy indie-reel it says, “Take five, put your feet up by the fire, and let me romance you across the isles of Wight, Blue, Orange and Red.”
Produced and engineered by Hywel Pryer and Honeyglaze’s drummer Yuri Shibuichi, and citing a host of artists from Eiko Ishibushi to Jim O’Rourke as discrete inspirations, ‘My God’ hints at far-out fantasies; tickling the fringes of doledrum day-to-day. Implied here are dragons clawing trolleys in the bargain-aisles of B&M- gnomes spotting family likenesses among B&Q’s garden statue range. As it’s backing-track twinkles with a Lemon Jelly-ian doll’s house whimsy, Isaac Gray’s grainy vocals warm cockles and stir imaginations. A trenchant tenderness here threads magic into Gray’s smooching observations, on modernity’s bruising commerce-drive.
Offering the first tease of Tapir!’s forthcoming multimedia saga, ‘The Pilgrim, their God, and the King of My Decrepit Mountain’ – one which chronicles “the story of ‘Pilgrim’ a creature embarking on an adventure through a fictional universe made up of green hills and red creatures”, no less – ‘My God!’ welcome’s you. Open-armed, into it’s wizened and friendly dream-like world, with its old-book stench and wide-eyed wonder.
The new issue of So Young is out now! Issue Thirty-Six features interviews with Wet Leg (Print Cover), Jockstrap (Online Cover, below), Black Country, New Road, Metronomy, NewDad, Teeth Machine, ENUMCLAW, Been Stellar, Blue Bendy, BODEGA, Catcher and more. Order your copy here or read the digital edition below.