Fossil Collective have been supported, for the first half of their tour, by the impossibly lovely, endearing fellow that is Luke Sital Singh. The Waterfront Studio is a bit of a weird one, and the nature of the room meant the audience were about six-miles away from Luke (the bar is at the back, and there are sofas, so if it’s not rammed its very, very chill). Essentially playing his EP, while adding in the naughty little bonus of ‘Bottled Up Tight’, Luke’s set was exquisite. Standing alone on stage with nothing but a guitar, there was no detraction from the purity of Sital Singh’s voice. Bloody lovely. Apparently it was “a swell first gig in Norwich.”
Then, fresh (sort of) from their performance at SWN festival in Cardiff, came Leeds folk boys David Fendick and Jonny Hooker. Born from the ashes of Dave and Jonny’s previous project, Vib Gyor, the tour line-up features former band mate Zane Keenan as well as new additions Antonio and Sean. Opening with ‘River’s Edge’, a track from new EP On & On, no one in the crowd made a sound. Dave’s vocals rang out crystal clear. Sital-Singh was an excellent support choice. With two strong male singers set to acoustic harmonising one may worry that the sounds would be too similar. But each is utterly unique. Declaring that they were “going to rock it. In a gentle folk way”, Fossil Collective launched into ‘The Wolves’. Another hauntingly beautiful, Travis-esque track, the gentle folk rock went down a treat. The arrangement of Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s ‘Power Of Love’ (a recording of which is floating around of Soundcloud) was lovely, and the age of the crowd was about right for it to be deeply appreciated (either old enough for nostalgia, or younger audience members who dig the eighties). Fossil Collective have proved their talent, with soft folk rock which manages to avoid heightened melancholia, and their twelve song set list suggests an album mightn’t be far off.
Both Sital Singh and Fossil Collective were happy to have a chat after their respective sets, and they’re all thoroughly lovely chaps. Catch one of the remaining dates while you can, or Luke on his headline dates in December.
Fossil Collective’s On & On and Luke Sital Singh’s Fail For You EPs are both out now.
Discover Luke Sital-Singh: Official // Facebook // Twitter // Soundcloud
Discover Fossil Collective: Official // Facebook // Twitter // Myspace
By Maddie Russell
Dance Yrself Clean
