By admin
If you’re a fan of Bowie, you should check out new band The Ultra who are currently channeling the late thin white duke on their fresh SoundCloud release ‘Universe in two’.
The sparse first movement with its minimal piano and singer Joel Alexander’s warbling Ziggy Stardust vocals really could be the opening of a track on ‘The Rise And Fall’, the echo-y, bellowing post-production really solidifies this ‘five years’-esc atmosphere. Not to mention there’s some interesting space imagery dotted around the track which, if nothing else will get you in the mood to contemplate the extra-terrestrial or the end of the world via meteor apocalypse.
The track drops, some solid drums come in and the thing takes a different turn. The soundscape expands as vast, mellow strings fill up the tracks space (lol) with Star-trek style floating background vocals and Ethereal Reverbed guitar pepper-ings. It’s cool, the track goes from Bowie’s ghost with a space-age grand piano to a rather contemporary indie, shoegaze-y driver. It’s nice and theatrical, the track would make a great film score.
However, I’m not sure that the first movement is quite up to scratch with the rest of the track. The Bowie imitation feels like just that – an imitation, yet the rest of the track is pretty interesting; it’s unique and has its own thing going. Maybe it’s the production or the fact it’s a home demo – with a bit more work The Ultra could fine-tune their craft and write some very decent tunes. Keep on it lads.
Check out their sound cloud below:
