Reviewing a gig chock full of solo performers towards the end of last year I stated that the one-man-band was oh so popular again. In teamABC further evidence is presented to support this claim. The brainchild of Stef Purenins, teamABC for the most part is all his own work. An ‘imaginary orchestra’ is cited as assisting on backing vocals and percussion, but essentially this is the proverbial one-man-band. In a nutshell, it’s the sort of thing that Get Cape, Luke Leighfield and Sam Isaac have been plying for a while now, and I don’t think it’s over-the-top to say that the ‘Butterflies E.P.’ stands toe-to-toe with the best those performers have produced.
Across the six songs contained on this release teamABC takes the listener for a gentle stroll through sugary fields of placid keyboard driven pop music. It’s all very systematic, an ease of a pace that develops slowly with an ever so quaint feel. The piano and soft guitars are accompanied by a series of instrument tinkering. Count violins, melodicas and a glockenspiel in amongst the fringe instrumentation here. It’s a little eclectic, but not so diverse that it loses its direction. I know when Paul reviewed ‘Hurry Up Hurricane’ he felt that teamABC hadn’t quite found an identity but I think that’s an issue that’s been rectified six months on.
The electronic tinkering on the E.P. is highlighted best on ‘I Stole YR Imagination’, a track I can best describe as if Bomb the Music Industry made forlorn love songs. It’s a little weird but intriguing none the less. ‘Tigers’ is by far the stand out track here, throwing a glorious hook of a chorus to the lions that are the romantic violins. I’d even go so far as to say this is one of my favourite individual songs of the year so far.
Ultimately this is a record that will fit the gap in its specific niche market, which it has to be said is a market that seems to be growing exponentially. If you like the other artists mentioned you’ll like this. If not, there’s nothing wrong with checking this out to loll away some of this sunny weather.
Alex