On the Horizon: Sweet Seed Sellers, Empty Pools.

I first became acquainted with Empty Pools' lead vocalist Leah Pritchard in the alluring glow of one of Butlin's myriad claw cranes, some unsightly winnings in hand and an odious jingle ringing in both ears. It therefore serves as little surprise subjectively that Vanderbilt Cup, the first track to fall from the Bristol quartet's Soundcloud, is an erudite affair littered with astute pop culture references (The Dark Is Rising, the Gates of Eden, etc.) that stream perfectly into the track's fluid aesthetic. They're intertwined with the tale of Patti Smith's abstruse emotional rapport with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and allegorically situated in Mapplethorpe's native Floral Park, Queens. Although more leafy outpost of suburban New York than verdant park per se ("Said it was good to come from 'cause it's good to leave" if Empty Pools are to be believed), elements of Vanderbilt Cup may be equated to the forces of nature and such like: its spindly, finger-y guitars recall withered wintry branches outstretched into cold, dark nights; its release is bolstered by sturdy bass root notes; and Pritchard's vocals evoke those of Carrie Brownstein at their most spring and sprightly. Thus if lyrically concerning the pitfalls of contradiction around which the privileged creative may tiptoe, musically it morphs and evolves cyclically, a little like seasonal change therefore. And indeed were the moniker a nod to Williamsburg's Pool Parties of yore and the Brooklyn phenomenon were ever refilled with life anew, you'd certainly hope for Empty Pools to be poured into the ruckus...

Empty Pools' Soundcloud.