Portrayal are an alternative rock and electronic duo from Shrewsbury, UK. The duo released their début album ‘To The Black Sea’ on March 27th
Consisting of Rob Tranter and Joe Crook, they have been friends for years but only started recording music together recently when the two previous bands they were in came to an end. “We like to mix up rock and electronica with other styles such as shoegaze and post punk etc, whilst keeping a focus on melody and structure. We’ve a wide range of influences both musical and cinematic and try to distill these into a sound that’s unique and interesting to us.”
The album blends dark and light, gracefully moving from melancholy synch heavy shoe-gaze to upbeat indie electronica. ‘Universal Libraries’ is elegant and euphoric with a gentle nod in the direction of Turn On The Bright Lights era Interpol. ‘Never Adjusted’ broods and shimmers, emoting a beautiful widescreen, cinematic quality. While ‘Departures’ starts with a rush of intensity and a cloud of synth haze which envelop and obscure the vocals. It’s an album to study closely, you don’t need to hear the vocals to understand the passion of the music. But there is endless joy to be had listening and listening again to unpick the mysteries and stories behind each of these wonderful tracks.
This is a stunning début which deserves to be courted and lauded by the music press. It really is that good.
