Doldrums
NME Awards Show
Birthdays, London
February 19, 2013
by Joanna Orland
Toronto native Airick Woodhead has left the days of his old band Spiral Beach behind him, packed his bags for a Montreal centric transient lifestyle, and created Doldrums – a musical endeavor on the cusp of being the next big thing. In London to headline an NME Awards Show at the latest trendy venue in Dalston, Airick, accompanied by his brother Daniel, brought the music of Doldrums to life on the London stage, and even with only a two-man-strong band, managed to make some serious noise on the basement stage of Birthdays.
Part 90’s inspired, part pop, part jungle, part psychedelica, layered beautifully with Airick’s androgynous voice fusing it together, Doldrums is a fresh sound on an otherwise stale music scene. Using samples, synths, and some serious beats, the Woodhead brothers had us tripping out and dancing. Listening to the album, there are so many layers of intricacies, it’s hard to imagine how the Doldrums band, with their usual set up of live instruments unfortunately not available for this NME Awards gig, could recreate such sounds in a live performance. Each song unique in its melodies, instrumentation and shifting tempos, Doldrums keep you guessing and interested throughout the debut album Lesser Evil, which is out now on Arbutus Records.
