Judging by how much time we spend together, my best friend is a computer. My Amelia connects me with the world and all the people in it. Sometimes, she sulks, but she is always there when I need some information or advice. She is a great source of entertainment, too. The other day, for example, Amelia showed me some Bandcamp recommendations. The one that caught my eye was categorised as folk, but the description read more like a chamber orchestra. Bandcamp’s wording was terse, but it seems to have distilled the essence from the band’s website:
“Me and My Friends play soulful, poignant music with a beat: a unique blend of Afrobeat grooves with deliciously rich harmonies, languidly graceful cello and playfully funky clarinet, all tied together by the hauntingly elegant voice of singer and guitarist Nick Rasle.”
The Me and My Friends website.
That’s an intriguing combination, I think you’ll agree. This Spotify playlist should be enough to see if it works for you:
Me and My Friends is a 5-piece band, based in Bristol, UK. They are:
- Emma Coleman: Cello/Vocals
- James Grunwell: Bass/Production
- Fred Harper: Drums/Percussion
- Sam Murray: Clarinet/Vocals
- Nick Rasle: Vocals/Guitar/Guitalele/Piano
They have released four albums to date: Beneath a Level Head (2012), Hide Your Way (2016), Look Up (2018) and Before I Saw the Sea (2023). There are strong Caribbean influences in the debut album, more chamber folk in the last, but all are as pleasing as a cosy gathering of friends around a steaming coffee pot on a winter’s morning. (Or a crate of cold beer in the evening if you’re perspiring in a Southern Hemisphere summer.)
This band is deliciously different, and wholeheartedly recommended by me and my online friends.
Crotchety Man 