Bent
Bent is a two-piece downtempo act from Nottingham, England consisting of Neil āNailā Tolliday and Simon Mills. They gained critical acclaim from their debut album, Programmed to Love, in 2000.
The song āInvisible Pedestrianā of the album āProgrammed to Loveā was featured in an Absolut Vodka commercial that aired in 2003, and more famously, a U.S. Volkswagen bus commercial in the late 90ās. Also aired on TV advertisement was āPrivate Roadā also from āProgrammed to Loveā in the āBank of Carlsbergā clip in December 2001.
Programmed to Love was followed by āThe Ev ...read more
Bent is a two-piece downtempo act from Nottingham, England consisting of Neil āNailā Tolliday and Simon Mills. They gained critical acclaim from their debut album, Programmed to Love, in 2000.
The song āInvisible Pedestrianā of the album āProgrammed to Loveā was featured in an Absolut Vodka commercial that aired in 2003, and more famously, a U.S. Volkswagen bus commercial in the late 90ās. Also aired on TV advertisement was āPrivate Roadā also from āProgrammed to Loveā in the āBank of Carlsbergā clip in December 2001.
Programmed to Love was followed by āThe Everlasting Blinkā (2002), āArielsā (2004) and recently with āIntercept!ā in October of 2006. This album has seen the band move to a more disco-pop inspired sound
Aah, the difficult, yet all important third album: the first could go either way, but having proven themselves the second was a test to show if the first wasnāt a fluke; but the third, well thatās a whole different storyā¦
Thankfully for Bent, in Ariels theyāve nothing to worry about. Joining Programmed To Love and The Everlasting Blink on the coffee table is another worthy companion full of surprises and enriched by beautifully lush ānā dreamy numbers, like the Carpenters-esque āSunday 29thā sung by longstanding cohort Kathy Heath. Less overtly electronic than whatās gone before, here songs and acoustic instruments replace synths and samples, along with some quite captivating vocals.
This time out the Nottingham duo - Simon Mills and Nail Tolliday - have enlisted the services of a handful of accomplished singers to add a variety of contrasting layers to their productions. Notably Rachel Foster from the Weekend Players who adds her lush larynx to the distinctly Air-sounding first single, āCominā Backā; she also sounds uncannily like Enya on the ethereal āSing Meā.
Kosheenās Sian Evans sounds equally at home on the seductively rich āI Canāt Believe Itās Overā; and X-press 2 and Cassius sessioner Steve Edwards offers a strong male lead on the slow burning toe-tapping optimistically upbeat āSilent Lifeā.
As a whole the chill beats and multi-layered musicianship work well together and certainly wouldnāt sound out of place on the Six Feet Under soundtrack; all of which conspire to make Bent one of the most happening bands in the living room. « hide |
