Swansea, UK’s CITIES have created a brilliant chill-out zone with their new offering “Manning Alaska”, their greatest accomplishment so far. Although it contains only 5 songs, this feels almost like a very full length thanks to the depth and the creative flow of the compositions. Well done, guys!
Cities are a 5-piece post-rock/instrumental/electronica outfit, hailing from Swansea in South Wales, and London. The band was formed in 2013 by Chris and Matthew James (Bass and synth, Drums), Stephen Cribb (Guitar), Tom Collins (Synth, Samples) and John Wellings (Visuals). They have quickly built a small but dedicated following, mainly on the strength of their live shows, which effectively combine the dynamics, unpredictability, and chemistry of a live rock show, with the subtle, ambient textures of electronica.
The shows are also complemented with live visuals, which are influenced from the band members’ interest in Art and Film. Sonically, the band have been compared to Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky.
Their June 2015 release, Manning Alaska, is the band’s first attempt to recreate, sonically, what is essentially an immersive audio-visual experience. The 5-track E.P was tracked in the BBC studios in Swansea, and then mixed and mastered by Ben Williams, whose adventures abroad are the inspiration behind the E.P’s curious name.
Cities will be touring during summer 2015 to build on the momentum of Manning Alaska and are currently distributing their first release on mp3 and vinyl, both of which which can be purchased via Bandcamp. The artwork for the E.P was created by Cardiff-based artist SnowSkull.
CITIES live:
