Customer Reviews

Runaway Found

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"The Runaway Found" is an excellent set from this New Zealand band. Their sound is lush, romantic & literate. Lead singer Finn Andrews is the son of XTC keyboard player Barry Andrews and fills the sonic space set by the Veils with flare and passion. While only 6 of the 10 tracks on the American release have lyrics included, the single "Lavinia" is washed with keyboards and a gorgeous string section as Andrews' vocals seems like an extended emotional moan, "Though the rose is vermilion & I find it so hard to survive without when within you." Guitars chime on "The Leavers Dance" before the electric sonic explosion with Andrews wailing the name "Bernice" as if it were a magic incantation, "Bernice, beneath it all you're golden & that's all I'm feeding on." "Vicious Traditions" clangs and groans like a therapy session for post-war stress, "His country's gone, this innocent soldier, fight your way out of this one." "The Runaway Found" is an excellent set from a band that comes across as not trying to prove anything, but simply express. The music is interesting and deeply layered, all hinging on the Finn Andrews persona. It works for me! Enjoy!

Upon picking up The Veils debut album I wasn't sure what to expect as I heard alot about Finn Andrews from my mate in NZ (he went to Takapuna Grammer with Finn, or so he say's) As soon as I put the CD on I was blown away by "Wild Son" and then "Guilding Light" and thats when the spliff kicked in and "Lavinia" came on and I was hooked. Also love "Leaver's Dance)Finn's lyrics are gorgeous and haunting. This CD needs to be played loud, on a great stereo to understand the many layers and texture of this album. Just sit back with a joint and let you mind roam through Finn's lyrical world, it is beautiful.

I buy a mass amount of british rock cds every month. Not since A Rush of Blood to the Head have I been so enamoured with a cd. More Heat Than Light rocks in a way that would kill Jack White. Nowhere Man and Lavinia are beautiful pieces that rank among U2's best. Guiding Light reminds me of Suede in their heyday. More than this though, is Finn Andrews, the 19-year old lead singer. He has the most powerful and unique voice that sets this band apart from other Radiohead wannabes. I dare you to listen to The Leaver's Dance and not get teary-eyed. This may be the best album you will hear this decade. All those hoping Travis and Elbow would have produced some stronger material this year should order this immediately. I only hope America listens and that The Veils get the attention and adoration they deserve. I would also suggest ordering the singles as Death and Co. is probably my favorite track that did not make the album. All of their b-sides are worthy of attention. Finally a new favorite cd that ranks among The Joshua Tree and James' Laid.

This album is an introduction to the amazing voice and songwriting talents of twenty-year-old Finn Andrews. Finn has been compared to Jeff Buckley, but is an original talent, and his live performance just has to be seen. On disc he is brilliant, but live he is heart-wrenchingly charismatic (and unnervingly beautiful). Finn begins a solo US tour in New York in July 2004, so please do yourself a favour, take the opportunity to see him perform.

This second LP from this New Zealand band can be best described as guitar layered pop lying somewhere between Keane and My Bloody Valentine. Enchanting, haunting, beautifully composed music is marred by the somewhat stagey vocals that will strike most people as great or awful--you decide. To me, they sound great but every once in a while they verge a little too close to stadium rock (think any Guns N Roses ballad you've ever heard) and then I skip that track as it takes away from the better ambience of the lush compositions (which remind one of the Cocteau Twins or Hooverphonic maybe?) Overall solid effort, at least 3 songs you can't stop listening to no matter what you think of the voice, which in my mind is a good buy all things considered.

I think the best review is simply a story of how often I listen to this album. In all truth, almost daily, for well over a few months now, the Veils have been a part of my daily music set, and I cant see them fading from this rank any time soon. The haunting melodic songs sooth the soul and quiet the restless, while still pumping up listeners with smooth adrenaline. This album is a must have in any music collection.

I've had this cd on repeat since I bought it 3 weeks ago. Every song is brilliantly written. All of the songs are quite varied while still holding a common theme. Having written the entire album at only 17, Finn Andrews is pure genius. His voice is hauntingly beautiful and incomparable to any other's.

This band is fantastic. If you have not heard of them yet, you will. The singer has a rough edge that is one part Tom Waits and two parts Radiohead. The music is hauting and nostalgic. "Lavinia" is the most moving track, and the lyrics are sutble and truly strange. I guarantee that you will like it.

There hasn't really been that mush hype about this band, not nearly as much as there should be, but they're British indie rock at their finest, more raw and gritty than unoffending bands like Coldplay and Travis and even though they're not attempting to break any new ground, they do what they do really well and prove that a band can accomplish memorable rock tunes like 'Guiding Light'while focusing on spine tingling melodic classics like 'The Nowhere Man' perhaps one of the best acoustic tunes i've ever heard. The boys did good!

This is probably the best album I have heard in many years. Complete. Melodic. Grat songs with depth. Pop music at its best. In a perfect world, they would outsell Coldplay. Buy this. It's just absolutle brilliance. This is how they used to make pop records. Listen and learn. Thank you VEILS.