Distant Nights

Regular faces around these parts (they played a sold out show at Camden Barfly recently) and just picked up by the Made In Chelsea soundtrack (which has more or less replaced the NME as the indie rite of passage), VICTORIA deserve a minute of your attention.

VICTORIA’s recently released EP Distant Nights demonstrates a band with a firm grasp of the zeitgeist, with a sound influenced by the big hitting guitar bands of late like Imagine Dragons and Bastille – that is, crystal clear production, anthemic, cascading riffs and big emotive choruses made for those sunset backed festival performances. Their strengths lie in songs such as lead single Into the Wild, which utilises the tried and tested quiet/loud formula via more than a hint of Mumfords, but with a six string rather than those bloody banjos. This is the strength the band should play to; two piano led ballads on one five track EP is, perhaps, overkill and middle track Taking on Love Alone bogs the record down with some under developed writing and watery, over-earnest sentimentality. The closing track Masquerade synthesises the lovelorn heart of the band with their anthemic leanings, and proves genuinely affecting, with a particularly strong vocal performance from singer Joe.

With a few more like this under their belt, VICTORIA will undoubtedly will be making it to a tent near you this summer.