House Above The Sun are a London based quintet who describe themselves as Americana Indie Rock, which covers quite a few bases. Restless Idealist is their second album but certainly hasn’t been rushed, following the début album Five Hours North in 2017 and the 2020 EP Time I Got Goin’. With a line-up of guitar, bass, percussion and vocals there’s some with some keys and lap steel in the mix as well.
‘Blame It On Me’ opens the album and sets out straight away with the Americana feel. It has that influence of ‘Take It Easy’, certainly in the opening bars, but is a much more Indie sound as the track progresses. Jim Moreton’s clear lyrics and lead guitar are well supported by Davide Mongirulli’s direct percussion and Ariel Moreton’s backing vocals. Normally I’m not a great lover of drums but they do add enormously to the track, giving that rock steady beat everything else works around.
‘Sacrament Of Now’ changes the feeling. Whilst including electric guitars it a softer folk feeling to it and reminds that every moment of time is precious so let’s take that moment and see where it takes us without the need to start over and over again. This track shows that writes lyrics lyrics worth listening to, it just about the music.
Jim certainly has a good voice, very clear with every word coming through, and a style that means he doesn’t have to force the words out. ‘Dreams Come True’ shows this very well and there’s some kicking bass from Jack Neale to support him. To not miss out the final band member David Atkinson’s lap steel adds a twang to the music only that instrument can give. A real plus for this band is everything is balanced and nothing dominates. Giles Davis has to take a lot of credit for his recording and mixing, which he got spot on.
I won’t talk about every one of the ten tracks on the album although I have to mention ‘Scarlett Of The Ocean’, a slower track also probably coming into the folk camp and also a love song of the “what used to be” kind but the emotions are still there. There’s an atmosphere added to it by Basia Bartz, a skilled violinist well known in London’s indie music circles.
I enjoyed the album. It comes under the easy listening label but every song, all ten tracks are written by Jim Moreton, has a different feel to it but none none of them stray too far for the central sound. Whilst it is obvious what influence the band they’ve managed to meld those into a sound that is very much own. There’s a lot to recommend in Restless Idealist; it’s great to play in the car and let it wash over you but it will also be good to see it performed live. The variety will have you either dancing or swaying along and thoroughly enjoying yourself.
Restless Idealist comes out on 6th June, with a launch at The Slaughtered Lamb in Clerkenwell, London on the 13th. It will be available on all major streaming platforms as well as CD.
Tony Birch
Artists’ website: https://houseabovethesun.com/
‘Sacrament Of Now’ – official video:
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