“Things to say down a microphone, eh?” says frontman Liam Sullivan to the largely disinterested crowd of about 30 – if that – people before him, in a desperate attempt to engage the crowd. No Trays Or Foxes are six songs into an eight song set, and still there is little interaction from the audience. The Parish Huddersfield is an intimate venue; physically, there is nothing to separate the band from the crowd and so their reluctance to involve themselves with the hometown four-piece becomes increasingly obvious – as does the band’s wariness of the crowd.
No Trays Or Foxes don’t belong in this venue, but this is something that works in their favour. An acoustic/electronic band that describe themselves as creating “sounds that intertwine sections of light and dark,” they breathe life into a virtually non-existent genre. Their sound is iridescent and atmospheric – melancholy, yet powerful enough to fill an arena. Playing an ill-suited venue that is effectively a desolate old barn with boarded up windows completely enhances this sound; all four members play as though they are playing a sold out show at London’s O2 arena, rather than a dimly-lit outbuilding with cobwebs hanging from the rafters.
Opening track ‘All There Is’ begins with singer Sullivan strumming his guitar as delicately as though playing a piano, gradually beginning to sing in coarse vocals that contrast with a steady rhythm of sounds provided by electric guitar, bass and synth. The song is striking and fills the room, with music that wouldn’t sound out of place on a film score. It sets the basis for a promising show, although this is knocked slightly when the singer has to communicate with the sound man to get their levels right, which serves as a reminder that the band still have a way to go.
Disregarding this slight hitch, No Trays Or Foxes glide through the rest of their set, delivering a wide range of songs that emphasise the wide array of talents that each member brings to the table. They soar through songs featuring beats so irregular they become regular, others whereby the synth sounds like a psychedelic descent straight into Wonderland before reverting completely into thrashing guitars and riffs that are reminiscent of bands like Foo Fighters and Biffy Clyro.
As they progress through the set, one thing becomes obvious – No Trays Or Foxes are masters of their art. Their ability to combine the most unlikely of partnerships becomes uncanny, whether it’s making the soft strums of acoustic guitar compliment the innate heaviness of the bass, or playing electric guitar with a drawl that emanates a sense of dread against heartfelt, soulful vocals. Their songs manage to be simplistic at the most complex end of the spectrum. They sound familiar, yet unlike anything ever heard before. It’s something that shouldn’t really be possible, but No Trays Or Foxes have taken this and run with it, and it works in a way that it really shouldn’t be able to.
By the time the band reach their final song ‘Spiralling,’ the once distant audience are now mere steps away from the stage. Even after No Trays Or Foxes have left the stage, the soaring, echoing and at times chilling effect of their music takes hold, surviving in the ears and minds of the now captivated audience.
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