Paisley & Charlie – Songs In Black & White (Pebble) CD

Product Description

To start the Paisley and Charlie story we go back to 2008 when they first met through an advert that was posted on Gumtree. Charlie had his own songs which he posted on his Myspace. Charlie then drafted an advert which he posted on Gumtree. After a string of failures (girl bands, acoustic harmony trios + other projects) the dream was over for Paisley. She was on the verge of giving up music altogether. A browse on the internet saw her come across the advert that Charlie had posted, Paisley answered and the wheels were set in motion. By the time Paisley answered Charlie already had his singer. All he was looking for was a keyboard player. It was after he listened to the demo Paisley sent that he changed his mind and accepted the keyboard role himself. Now that is how they met with Paisley on vocals and Charlie on keyboard/ backing vocals they can do no wrong.

‘Songs In Black & White’ is the debut album from Brighton duo Paisley and Charlie and follows the success of their debut single ‘Stone Lions’ also on Pebble Records. Paisley and Charlie have been perfecting their own brand of pop over many yaers. While they incorporate elements of early Field Mice, Belle and Sebastian and Trembling Blue Stars this is not just indie pop but pop in the sense of Bolan, Motown, disco, Saint Etienne, Bacharach, music to make you dance, fall in love and to cry to.

The album has many different levels and textures from the opening uptempo trio of Radio Days, Stone Lions and Julia Misbehaves to the tracks European Girl, Alarm Bells and the floor filler Hold Me , with it’s Hustle style hook, these are tracks to make you dance with their insanely catchy hooks, gliding beats and beautiful strings. Paisley’s voice is dreamy, seductive and swooning and compliments the arrangements perfectly. Paisley and Charlie change the pace on tracks such as Sebastian which has been completely reworked since it was released as a digital single on Jacob Drums label Holiday Records. It is now a heartbreaking plea with Charlie taking over lead vocals and accompanied by piano and beautiful soft strings.

The dreamy folk pop of ‘Funny’ is followed by the sophisticated mid tempo ‘Fine Days Of Summer’ with the tracks ‘Stars’, ‘Daydream’ and ‘Last To Know’ follow a similar path but all have a uniqueness about them. With their intelligent use of samples, electronics, acoustic guitars and strings Paisley and Charlie have created one of the pop albums of the year and a great summer record that will also keep you warm all winter.

Tracklist: Radio Days / Julia Misbehaves / Stone Lions / Sebastian / Hold Me / Funny / Fine Days Of Summer / Pebble In My Shoe / Beautiful Thing / Stars / Alarm Bells / European Girl / Daydream / The Last To Know

Pebble Records  PEBBLE010