Hey Sholay - Burning
Hey Sholay are a five-piece group of musicians, filmmakers and artists from Sheffield and Leeds, who play a breed of psychedelic independent pop with a hint of the Northern Lights captured in a jam jar.
They have been described as imperious masters of the contemporary anthemic chorus, with bright vibrant tunes and a beat guaranteed to make you tap your toes. On 11th June 2012 they launch the single 'Burning', which is all of the above and more, and is taken from their cosmically titled debut album, '((O))', due for release on fierce panda in September.
Way back in the mists of time - June last year in fact - Hey Sholay brought those bright, vibrant tunes and toe-tappingly fine beaticles to the doorstep of the general public and the catflap of BBC 6 Music with the release of the 'Dreamboat' / 'The Bears, The Bees, The Clocks' double AA-side single on Label Fandango.
This beat happening was brought to the fore by Hey Sholay's cunning tactic of sending their unsolicited demo to the top secret panda / fandango HQ. On cassette. Wrapped in fake (bear) fur.
Great work on every level, obviously, and Hey Sholay followed that effort up with, among other things, a tour with Crystal Antlers, an appearance at Koko at the NME Awards shows, some BBC Radio 1 Introducing Playlist fun with their 'Wishbone' track garnering all manner of audio TLC from the likes of Scott Mills, Greg James, Dev, Huw Stephens, Edith Bowman, Nick Grimshaw, Annie Mac and Fearne Cottontail and most recently, a BBC6 Music Award for "The Must See Band of Summer 2012 hosted by Drowned in Sound".
Along the way they managed to nail the kaleidoscopic - nay, kaleidopopic - extremeties of the '((O))' mini-opus and - here's the even cleverer bit - also got 'Burning' mastered in the USA by Don Grossinger, a man who knows his way around the levels of Flaming Lips, Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd.
So Hey Sholay are progressive, but not oppressively so; populist, but not obsessively so. In fact, we can't quite get our heads around what makes them tick and what encourages them to tock, but what we do know is that they fizz in the most unexpected places, and some expected places as well, like these... May 18th Preston The Mad Ferret
May 19th Liverpool Sound City (Venue Tbc)
June 02nd Manchester Beached Festival
June 30th Halifax Shears Inn Festival
July 20th - July 22nd Sheffield Tramlines Festival
Aug 11th Cornwall Knee Deep Festival
Aug 17th Skipton Beacons Festival
Aug 19th Leicester Summer Sundae Festival