ENGLISH COUNTRY

After introducing their debut album ‘English Country’ with a title track built for raised pints and festival singalongs, CUSP have gone the other way with ‘Me And Lily In The Falling Rain‘.

This is the sort of tune that sneaks up on you, it starts as a gentle slowburner, all delicate strings and understated guitar lines, before gradually opening into something much bigger. There’s a proper cinematic feel to it but it never loses the intimacy at the heart of the song. Dan Stock’s vocal carries that yearning, reflective quality that makes you lean in rather than wait for a massive chorus. Dan has vocals that can hypnotise you, it certainly happened to me at Docks Academy in Grimsby.

The comparisons to ‘Urban Hymns‘ make sense, but this doesn’t feel like a band trying to copy The Verve. The string arrangement gives it a real sense of grandeur, while the guitar solo lands with exactly the right amount of emotion, enough to lift the track without tipping into overblown territory. It’s ambitious but it’s also restrained where it needs to be.

What really stands out is the lyric writing, the song is built around the small details that end up meaning the most and that’s what gives it its punch. CUSP have managed to write something that feels deeply personal while still sounding like a tune you could imagine thousands of people singing back at them in a field somewhere.

For a band whose rise has already included support slots with The Snuts, DMA’S, Red Rum Club, The Royston Club and The Lottery Winners, plus praise from Noel Gallagher, this feels like the moment they start proving why the hype is there in the first place.

If ‘English Country‘ is going to be full of songs with this level of songwriting and ambition, October 16th can’t come soon enough. ‘Me and Lily in the Falling Rain‘ is a reminder that the biggest indie moments aren’t always the loudest ones.

Pre-Order ‘English Country here: https://cuspband.bandcamp.com/album/english-country