As purveyors of a certain gossamer indie rock radiance, London band Arliston craft songs that feel intimate and devastating, imbued with moments of rhythmic grace that act as pathways for overwhelming tides of emotion and experience. They have the disorienting and enviable ability to convey both solace and anxiety within the same breath. Translucent Synths, shimmering guitars, and gentle piano lines converge and play off one another in remarkable fashion.
Since announcing their arrival with 2018’s Hawser EP, singer-guitarist Jack Ratcliffe, guitarist George Hasbury, and drummer Jordi Bosch have been keen to explore vast depths of feeling through subtle melodic variations, echoing the cathedral works of artists like Bon Iver or James Blake. During the darkest days of the pandemic, the band paused their collaborative processes, though they returned in 2021 with the single, “Mountaineer“, the first track from their The Ground Might Disappear EP, which was released earlier this year.
They recently announced a new EP, Even in the Shade, which is due out sometime in November. For our first glimpse into the record, the band shared “Mothering,” a delicate mix of iridescent piano, swaying guitar rhythms, and other ambient-pop machinations. It’s a gorgeous and opaque gem that pulls at your heartstrings while flooding your brain with moments that feel darker and more hesitant that they initially appear.
“I’m so happy with how this one came together,” Hasbury says, “we always try to keep a lid on the productions — it’s too easy nowadays to use all the toys on every song! But with ‘Mothering’ I think we’ve managed to get a real sense of groove and momentum into such a small arrangement.”
Ratcliffe continues: “This one grabbed us the moment we started writing it, and hasn’t really let go since. There’s something about how it all fits together that is deeply satisfying- It was the first song we wrote after ‘The Ground Might Disappear’ and once we had the sound and feel of the first take down, we knew we had to build an EP around it.”
Now the band has shared a video for the track, which follows a small family as they work through various emotional connections and disconnections. Almost Malick-ian in its profound associations and remarkable landscapes, the clip helps to render the narrative of the music through a parallel lens, supporting and adding weight to the song’s emotional gravity through the exploration of familial intimacy and personal identity.
“This video was created by the brilliant Bo Morgan,” the band reveals. “He took the concept and translated it into this beautiful narrative that both explains and expands upon what the song is saying.”
Watch the video below.
Arliston’s new EP Even in the Shade is due out in November. Follow the band on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
