I have been waiting for this day for some time now. I am not talking about the fact that Venus Hum are finally back to work on their looong overdue third album. No. Today, you and I finally get to hear the first demo from Ali M Forbes. You know him (or you ought to know him) from Envy & Other Sins (and if you don’t, you should get to know them both). A few months ago, in the very first installment of The Indie Handbook, I went on the record as saying that Envy & Other Sins’ debut LP, We Leave at Dawn, was the best album of 2008. And while I was assured that my review was stupid, that cannot discount the top tier quality of the album.
Last I heard, the band were taking some time off from gigging to work on some new songs, which include glockenspiel. Meanwhile, Ali has been working on some tracks and a few gigs of his own. There is only one track posted on his MySpace (and a demo at that) at the moment, but it is a nice taste and enough to leave me wanting more. The track, “Under Her Sails”, features that gift for melody and modal shift that made We Leave at Dawn such a delight. Add to that lots of layering, electronics, synths, strings, handclaps, and, yes, glockenspiel (!) and you have the concoction Forbes himself (on his facebook page) describes as “future folk”. I think I like future folk (hey, Ali, do you want to record a track for our Christmas album?). It’s all too bad I don’t really live anywhere near anywhere he ever performs.
I also though I should take this opportunity to encourage you to keep up with The Indie Handbook this coming week. Let’s just say, if you thought Dutch Week was fun, just wait until you experience:
MALTA MAYHEM!
It’s going to be epic.
The Indie Handbook 
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