something a bit quieter

The first time I saw Richard Walters perform was in a dingy, basement venue in the centre of Oxford awash with the smell of the neighbouring cosmetics shop and packed with pound-a-pint loving students. A slight, un-shaven man quietly crept onto stage whilst everyone obliviously found the bottom of their glasses and held conversations of outside world. Sat upon a rickety stool, legs arched inwards, head down, as close to disappearing into himself as he could muster, fingers gently started plucking and the room fell instantly silent. The way this stranger's delicate voice makes you stop dead in your tracks and the hairs on the back of your neck turn upwards is not too disimilar to the feeling you get when you first fall in love, and that's exactly what this is. Richard Walters is a 23 year old singer-songwriter born and raised in Oxford. He writes beautiful, fragile, acoustic songs which make you fall in love.


From his days in local band Theremin (Shifty Disco Records) to the current times of Oxford's premier solo artist, Richard's story is one of many triumphs and accomplishment. In the last two years he has written and recorded with long-time hero Bernard Butler, played the prestigious SXSW festival in Austin, Texas and toured the UK with Dave Matthews and Gemma Hayes as well as a handful of dates in Hong Kong. He has released an EP which gained much praise from Nic Harcourt on his LA based KCRW radio show, Morning Becomes Eclectic, and had one of his songs featued on the popular TV show CSI: Miami, receiving the biggest response CBS have ever had for a piece of music on their programme. On top of all this, Richard has formed two bands: Monoband with ex-Cranberries man Noel Hogan, and Missing Pieces with ex-22-20's frontman Charly Coombes.


'The Pilot Lights EP', set for release in February 2007 via Big Scary Monsters Records, was recorded in part by David Kosten (producer for Air Traffic, Iain Archer, Bat For Lashes and many more) and in part by Guy Sigsworth (ex-member of Frou Frou (along with Imogen Heap) and producer for Björk, Madonna, Lamb and others).


Download mp3: We Have Your Head - Buy


Richard Walters Myspace



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Yndi Halda, meaning enjoy eternal bliss (which just so happens to be the name of the bands forthcoming debut EP), hail from the most Southern, Eastern tip of the UK. More joyous than Explosions In The Sky, less vocal than Arcade Fire, it's the kind of music which could soundtrack a moden day love story as easily as it could a mid-century war.


The three track demo version of the forthcoming EP was voted number two (above such genre luminaries as Sigur Ros, Explosions In The Sky, Pelican et al) in the top 50 instrumental albums of 2005 by Decoymusic.com, a reward which anyone would struggle to dispute upon listening to the record. With one beatiful soundscape after another, Yndi create something bigger than an emotional rollercoaster, it's more like a full-on mountain assualt through thick blizzards and incredible sunshine.


'Enjoy Eternal Bliss' released in February 2007 through Big Scary Monsters Records (UK), Burnt Toast Vinyl (USA), Xtal Records (Japan) and Avant Garden (Taiwan)


Download mp3 Dash And Blast - Buy


Yndi Halda Myspace


Content courtesy of Kev at Big Scary Monsters Records