Butterfly Attitude

Edited text From FACT magazine news / review: Almost twenty years later, Eyeless In Gaza are ready to release their first record on Downwards, one which will doubtless reinforce their cult status and help introduce their remarkable body of work to a new generation. Butterfly Attitude is described as a "specially-commissioned sister work" to the band's other new full-length album, Everyone Feels Like A Stranger (forthcoming on CD soon through Veto). You get five tracks on the LP (seven tracks on the CD), all exploring the predominantly acoustic, folk-oriented sound that has been EIG's preference for some years now, with Bates' pungent lead vocals cast in minimalist but muscular arrangements of guitar, percussion, harmonica, keyboards, bass, melodica, organ, banjo, ukelele, steel pans and "Morse code". As ever, Becker and Bates conjure a precious ambience out of, and around, their performances: particularly resonant are 'Dust' and 'The Day Began', the latter recalling the unique sound design of classic Eyeless albums like Drumming The Beating Heart.