I’m not afraid to say that when I first encountered Wild Swim – back when they were Picturehouse – I judged them. It was last summer and they were getting ready to sound-check in the Wheatsheaf. They had arrived on time, were all very young and well dressed and had a bunch of equipment that was to die for. The keyboard player sound-checked some classical piece, the bassist played some precision funk-bass thing. “Ah, just another bunch of classically-trained public school-educated musos with no heart”, I grunted to myself.
And then they started playing and I realised the joke was on me.
They blew the entire audience away, not only with the level of musicianship on display, but also with the apparent ease with which their songs spanned genres and styles while maintaining one unique sound. And they looked like they were having fun doing it.
‘A Glimpse Into the Night’ highlights a band that has acquired mastery of creating mood music with layers of circular guitar patterns, frenetic drumming, synth flourishes, and frontman Richard Sansom’s powerful croon. The title track is a perfect example; it’s mysterious and warm, multi-faceted and musically diverse – the break-beat drum, bass and piano middle-eight is inspired. ‘Happy Heat’ is a placid, lilting, romantic acoustic number, equal parts Kings of Convenience, latter day Beatles and the end even brings to mind Oxford’s own Pyschid. (Background natter also suggests that Broken Social Scene’s ‘Just Like the Sun’ as an influence.) ‘Meek and Mild’ is the most conventional song in the bunch but saying that it still manages a few surprises in the form of clever lyrical couplets, a driving funk bassline and an inexplicable scratch solo from the resident DJ. The song’s middle-eight sounds like a classic Radiohead vocal breakdown. EP closer ‘The Surrender’ continues the Radiohead vibe further with some excellent drumming and meandering guitar and bass-lines.
Wild Swim have certainly developed since their Picturehouse days and the songs now rely less on choruses and big electro riffs and more on mood, layers of texture and structure. Sansom’s voice is more refined now, sounding like a combination of Morrissey, Antony Hegarty and Al Bowlly, and his style complements the songs perfectly, never threatening to overshadow the rest of the band. If they can manage to maintain the delicate balance of musicianship and songwriting they’ve displayed here, there’s no telling how far they can go.