Opening their set with the tremulous Peaceful The World Lays Me Down, it's plain to see that it's front man Charlie Fink who carries this band, his distinctive voice bearing some simple, others complex songs of love and heartbreak all accompanied with layers of folksy instrumentation. His vocal chords and heartfelt outpourings bury deep into the listeners' soul, displaying a sense of old-man wisdom far beyond his youthful years. With fiddle and versatile percussion, the band’s music is simple but effective and throughout the set the crowd are in complete awe. Their new album The First Days Of Spring was released this summer, and it’s this album in which Charlie Fink’s lyrics carry that familiar mournful resignation to all of life's woes. The album comes accompanied by a film, directed by Charlie and starring model Daisy Lowe, which runs the length of the album. Both the album and film are filled with huge emotional power, complexity and impact. Blue Skies and Slow Glass are painfully direct and strangely joyful and stay with you long after the closing bars have faded. 5 Years Time and Shape Of My Heart are up-tempo and the audience explodes into a dance, the mellow acoustic opening’s explode into a loud, swinging feel good party sound. Final song The Last Days Of Spring is a combination of strong strings, melodic piano and tight guitar. The beginning is slow and peaceful before the whole band springs into life on the furious finale. How such pain and anguish, via music and lyrics, can bring such pleasure I cannot tell but the pleasure stays with you for hours afterwards.

By Sophie Stratford