“Pop sorcerers, going straight to hell,” is how this Mancunian five-piece describe themselves via facebook. There’s truly been some magic sprinkled on the band, who landed a deal with Epic/Sony incredibly quickly. “We got signed after writing six songs,” explains frontman Sam. The group simply uploaded some tunes and got picked up by blogs nationwide with a self-made Youtube video for ‘U Got The Power’ which has gone on to amass over a quarter of a million views.
Now their official debut single ‘Danz’ is out, further evidence of their ability to craft brilliant synth-pop gems. “We all like good credible pop music. We don’t see anything wrong with that. We love it,” continues Sam. The accompanying video features some uninhibited dance moves being busted outside Salford Lads Club, famed for its inclusion on The Smiths’ album cover for ‘The Queen Is Dead’. Two of the group had long been immersed in Manchester’s music scene in previous outfit Ten Bears, but when new members were recruited the sound changed and Swiss Lips took shape. “It just clicked completely,” says Sam. “We’re all into finding that sweet-spot between guitar bands and dance music.”
The upcoming debut album looks set to fully fuse the two approaches while also having a more experimental edge. “There’s about 20 analogue synths in the studio we’ve been in so we’ve been playing around with those. There’s one track with a Fleetwood Mac vibe to it alongside our more ‘80s influence, but they’re all big dark pop songs.”
Half of the record was done in Stockport and the other half in London, with Ric Levy at the helm on production. “On some of the tracks we did the vocals in my kitchen,” laughs Sam. Given the well-polished nature of their sound what they’ve achieved so far is impressive. Comparisons have already been made to the likes of MGMT, Passion Pit, and Friendly Fires, but it won’t be long until Swiss Lips have people under their spell completely.
As a special preview, ClashMusic have been handed a remix of ‘Danz’ by none other than The Horrors’ Tom Furse.
Listen to it now… Grab it HERE.
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Words by Simon Butcher