Finbarr Bermingham - The Skinny
Weighing in at a grand total of eight tracks (including two
instrumentals), Ardentjohn's debut is scarcely eligible for long-player
status. Considering this, it's commendable how much they squeeze into
When the Time Comes. Speaking frankly to The Skinny recently, lead
singer Keiron Mason acknowledged that some of the band's influences are
plain to see. The Doves are audible on the excellent Orange Nights;
Sleeping Soldiers is reminiscent of The Verve at their most blissfully
zoned out and the Merseybeat / ska persuasions of Legoland Towns are
inescapable. Credit to Ardentjohn, then, for producing an album that
whilst heavily influenced, is far from recycled. From the seamless,
dreamlike quality that binds the opening tracks to the harmonious,
unashamedly melodic Hide Your Mind; When the Time Comes is great while
it lasts. Perhaps though, a few more substantial tracks would have
added meat to the bones of an enjoyable and promising first outing.
Rick Fulton - Daily Record
The opening intro to Edinburgh band ardentjohn's debut album is a marching sonic assault that refuses to be ignored.
It bleeds into Sleeping Soldier as quite and thoughtful as the intro is brutal.
A band that describe themselves as indie Pro-folk, Hide Your Mind of this mini-album has that familiar country twang.
Keeping
with the musical chairs comes the band's two singles to date. Legoland
Towns was their first single and the tune that brought them to
Soundcheck's attention. A jaunty nutcracker of a tune Pete Doherty
would go clean for a tune like this. Next up is second single Orange
Nights - it's slow burn again utterly different and evoking the epic
rock of Snow Patrol or Coldplay. Final tune of eight songs is Synapses
a trippy jazz number with dreamy lyrics like: 'I'm feeling so
alive/uncertainty has been cleared/as my eyes open to a new world'. A
band with a promising future.
Is This Music
A couple of years back, ardentjohn took the Beatles-in-Hamburg-esque
(is that a word?) step of playing a month at a resort in the Italian
Alps. Fourteen shows a week will make any band tighter than the
proverbial dog's bits, and they're no exception to the rule.
Starting as a slightly shambolic folk trio in 2005, they've honed a
much more idiosyncratic sound in the intervening period. It's that
loping, laid-back slacker pop that's fiendishly hard to actually get
right. Too lazy and it's sloppy, too concentrated and it's just
contrived. This sounds like they spent most of their alpine sojourn
listening to The La's, Tramp Attack, The Lovin' Spoonful and
Spiritualized. Then came home, mixed the ingredients up in a big
test-tube, and necked the lot. Bouncing between breezy pop, murky
soundscapes and sunny harmonies, best exemplified on standout track
Legoland Towns. It's definitely one to check out.
London Tour Dates Magazine
Hailing from the Edinburgh music scene, where they are garnering a strong reputation since forming in 2005, Ardent John have just released this seven-track mini-album for our delectation.
Opening with a lovely, spacey, slowbuilding instrumental, they push into a more delicate set of songs, showing more of the nineties indie influence.
As the album progresses, it encompasses hints of The Music, with a willingness to go for the big, psychedelic-tinged growers, as well as tighter, bouncy numbers that play lightly on folk and country influences in a manner similar to the earlier, magpie-era Coral.
This is an impressive debut.
Beat Surrender
"......this is the bands debut album, although the confidence with
which it enters your stereo you'd be forgiven for thinking this is a
band that are well into their stride and are laying down their 5th or
6th album. Not many I know would be brave enough to open with a track
that slowly builds as Intro does, most opt to go with a big single
release to kick things off.
This band though are different and it sets the tone nicely for a richly produced 8 track album. Legoland Towns is probably the jauntiest track on here, while Dark Highs 54 is laden with a beautiful acoustic guitar intro and then you get Synapses to finish which is a frantic and thrilling finale to proceedings.
Whisperin and Hollerin
....ArdentJohn’s debut album is a laid back,
lolloping, confident trip into the wilds of Scotland – or so it feels
anyway. Spending the last 12 months building up a solid UK fanbase the
band recently signed with Slow Train Records and are, judging from this
release, on the way to a steady career.
Whilst this is
nothing groundbreaking ArdentJohn are likely to be one of those bands
who are around forever, often in your subconscious and you find know
all the songs. Much better in my opinion.
Richly produced
and full of catchy acoustic pop this is an accomplished album. The
gently building ’intro’ entices you in, setting the scene for an album
of musical and lyrical accomplishment. Stand out tracks are ’Legoland
Towns’ – a jaunty, catchy slice of pop and closer, ’Synapses’ which
features beautiful, intricate melody and haunting vocals.
Rich, textured and melodic. This is an album that should be in
everyone’s collection, it might not be something you want to listen to
all the time but its perfect for those Sunday afternoons and gentle
summer days....
Bluesbunny
Sometimes a debut album comes out of its corner and
without any ducking and weaving lands a knockout punch straightaway.
Such a beast is this release by Edinburgh based Ardentjohn. It sounds
great, well produced with a cracking belt of eight slices of musical
quality (plus an extra "hidden track") that are high on creativity and
down home excellence.
Track one, "Intro", announces itself with a shimmering wave of
cymbals before a fast drum break and what sounds like John Martyn's
echoplex guitar speeding through a short spacey instrumental. This
segues into "Sleeping Soldier," a limpid swoon of a song that recalls
the pastoral side of early Pink Floyd with liquid guitars and soaring
but restrained vocal harmonies that add to the comparison. Following
this the band get folksier and rootsier. "Hide Your Mind" is a fine
canter through a song with an LA Canyon feel, perfect for listening to
in high summer and it is in this vein that the band are most
successful. "Orange Nights" has a laid-back groove and sparkling,
countryish guitar, the refrain ""… and the sunshine man is here" just
about sums it up.
Towards the end the band stretch out with the guitars becoming more
insistent and the harmonies more ethereal. "Until the end" maintains
the feel with lyrics such as "… you say I must be strong and to carry
on/even though at times it is hard/ to believe in this thing we find
ourselves in/ all the time/all the time" that seem to come from that
same sun kissed fatalistic Zen well that Gene Clark drank from. The
band also dip a toe into psychedelia with "Dark Highs 54" which casts a
nod to Arthur Lee's Love and the final song, "Synapses" which showcases
jazz inflected guitars (and shades of the Canterbury scene of
yesteryear) over its six minutes.
Overall a welcome debut with plenty of promise although may I dare
to suggest that the more countrified songs could be the best way
forward.