Northern Irish alt-folk band Revue have released their new single, Love's Executioner. We asked them the BIG questions . . .
Revue are vocalist Emma Loudon and multi- instrumentalist Martin Price, Sean McCann on bass, Ioannis Tsioulakis on keys and Josh McCullough on drums.
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2023 will see the release of their album, a third tour of Brittany, a second stint at the How The Light Gets In festival (the world's largest festival of philosophy and music), other festival dates and shows in Ireland and the UK.
How would you describe your music?
We mostly say it's Indie Folk as a headline, there's bits of a lot of other styles in there, too, blues, jazz, alt rock, roots. We feel like we've honed it and understand it better on the new album - fundamentally it's about the song writing, trying to shape the instruments and arrangements so they're the perfect complimentary bed for whatever personal or emotive thing that's inspired the particular lyric. Like Glen Hansard or The Civil Wars or someone like Fiest we guess - just trying to write and present a song in a timeless way that can speak to people.
Who are your musical inspirations?
Emma - I grew up with my Dad playing The Beatles and Paul Simon and he himself was a musician in a folk group. Then I hit my teenage years and got massively into a wide range of things from Nirvana to Alanis Morrisette. In recent years I've been influenced by song writing greats like Hozier and Andrew Bird and spend a lot of time listening to amazing singers like Sarah Vaughan.
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Marty - I was really into 60s music growing up (a lot of it was on in the house), mainly hippy American folk-rock sort of stuff, Jefferson Airplane, Dylan, The Grateful Dead. That meld of the awareness of roots and classic song writing with modern thinking about instrumentation, arrangements and production is definitely the ethos for Revue.
What was the first gig you ever went to?
Emma - Placebo at the Ulster Hall, Belfast.
Marty - Maybe Bill Bailey if that counts. A lot of pure musicians would love to play as well as him!
What was the first record you ever bought?
Emma - it was a cassette of the Back Street Boys.
Marty - Might genuinely have been Barbie Girl by Aqua. Too catchy for a young man to resist.
What’s your favourite song right now?
Emma - I am obsessed with Belfast band No Oil Paintings and their latest single In Passing. Their drummer George Sloan co-runs the studio (Half Bap) where we recorded our album.
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Marty - When I Go Away by Levon Helm (of The Band fame); it's like a powerful gospel-blues with a great organ riff and he's got one of our all-time favourite singing voices.
Favourite lyric of all time?
Emma - This is so difficult! I could’ve gone with Nirvana, Paul Simon, The Beatles, but thinking about it I remembered my love of this Laura Marling song Ghosts, and among the great lyrics in it this line: "Lover, please do not fall to your knees, it’s not like I believe in everlasting love."
Marty - probably some line from Dylan's Mr Tambourine Man, the whole tune in incredible obviously, but particularly: "to dance beneath the diamond sky, with one hand waving free/ silhouetted by the sea". The tumbling flow of rhymes and consonance is great, and the imagery is so powerful and captures such a specific type of feeling of exhilaration despite being really abstract.
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Emma - I hate that listening to only one song would probably ruin the song for me but if I had to choose it would be The Weight by The Band, The Last Waltz version. There is a lot going on so I hopefully wouldn’t go mad too quickly.
Marty - Either Paranoid Android by Radiohead or something even longer like Dark Star (Grateful Dead) or Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pink Floyd) - value for money I guess?
Where can people find your music/more information?
You can find us on Instagram, Threads, Facebook @wearerevue - keep an eye out for our new single Love's Executioner. Our Bandcamp page and you can find us on Spotify, Apple music and all streaming sites.
