If St Etienne evoke memories of an idyllic London, this boy-girl duo do the same for beach resorts from Ayia Napa to Ibiza
Hometown: Athens, Greece.
The lineup: Sarah P (vocals), RPR (music).
The background: It's only week three of January and already we've got enough great new music to fill one side of a mixtape: RKO, Star Slinger, Beat Connection, Odd Future, Hiss Golden Messenger, Cloud Nothings, Jessica Lee Mayfield and G-Sides. Here's a perfect way to kickstart side two, although having said that, the five tracks we've heard by today's new band are all so fine we would struggle to pick just one.
Then again, Keep Shelly in Athens excel in one of our favourite musical genres: melancholy disco. We might have guessed we'd like them: their debut UK single is, after all, being released by the excellent Transparent. Like Summer Camp, who we did almost exactly a year ago today, KSIA want to keep things mysterious, releasing little information about themselves. They may not actually be from Athens at all, and they may not be a duo, but the sound they make does suggest a classic boy-girl pairing. They are said to comprise Sarah P, a 21-year-old studying acting and singing in the Greek capital, and her male partner: a self-styled "bedroom musician, remixer and music freak" called RPR (we were even given the Greek spelling of his name, perhaps to further throw us off the scent).
Speculation aside, this is immediately striking electro-pop led by haunting female vocals. The evocative nature of this downcast dance music is reflected in the title of their debut UK single, Hauntin' Me. Think early solo Tracey Thorn backed by a reverb-heavy guitar and a trumpet. It's breathtaking. The melody is, surely accidentally, Slide Away by Oasis, but the historical precedents are the doleful Balearica of St Etienne or Club 8. Or think Portishead if they were forced at gunpoint to write the theme tune to a documentary about acid house. Meanwhile, the sound effects towards the end, the bleeps and such, are like distress signals.
Song to Cheer You Up, the single B-side, is more plaintive techno with a budget-feel that we love. We also love the singer's Sarah Cracknell-ish voice: so unforced and dispassionate, the opposite of today's show-off brats, every weary whisper and sigh suggesting a lifetime of sorrow and pain. On Cremona Memories, her voice is treated, not by Auto-Tune but whatever it takes to turn it into a muezzin wail. If St Etienne are about evoking memories of a London so idyllic it's almost illusory, Keep Shelly do the same for every European beach resort, from Ayia Napa to Ibiza. This is the sound of lack and loss, of what My Bloody Valentine termed "emptiness inside". It'll transform your recent holiday romance into the most resonant bliss imaginable.
The buzz: "A shimmering, sexy-smooth, Balearic pop dream, perfect for soundtracking all the lingering yearning and regret of your next late-night comedown" ? Gorilla Vs Bear.
The truth: They'll make you happy to feel sad.
Most likely to: Haunt you.
Least likely to: Cheer you up.
What to buy: The single Hauntin' Me/Song to Cheer You Up is released by Transparent on 21 February.
File next to: Sally Shapiro, Club 8, Nite Jewel, Still Corners.
Links: myspace.com/keepshellyinathens.
Thursday's new band: Therapies Son.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jan/19/new-band-keep-shelly-athens
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