More about: Blanketman

Manchester quartet Blanketman release their debut EP National Trust today. Upbeat and hook-heavy, it's a confident first step towards underground adulation. It's also quite the wholesome affair...

...or some of the subject matter is anyway. I mean, come on: National Trust? Huge Bill Bryson vibes. We continued the feel-good whimsy of the situation by asking the members what their favourite National Trust park is.

Which is yours?

Bassist Jeremy chooses: The White Cliffs of Dover, Kent

“My favourite National Trust site is without a doubt The White Cliffs of Dover, It’s the only place in the UK that, on a clear day, my motherland is still visible. A few times a year I like to stand atop the cliffs in a white silk dress, blowing in the wind, pressing it to my body, while sobbing gently in the direction of La République Française. In this moment of commemoration, I sometimes take deep breaths in the hope of catching the scent of the bakeries of my youth on the wind.”

Synth + Keys Master Shane chooses: Kinder, Edale and the High Peak, Derbyshire

Having the Peak District on our doorstep is one of the many positives of living in Manchester. Here Shane describes a particularly fond memory: “Well, I went up a waterfall in Edale. Quite a trek up. We were going up at the same time as these scouse lads who had all the walking clobber on, whilst I was wearing a woollen flannel shirt and some suit pants. While having a smoke halfway up, I could feel their eyes staring at me, smirking as if to say “you’re not cut out for this hike, you’re ill-equipped” that set a fire ablaze in my belly. Either that or indigestion from scoffing a butty down. We continued to climb up, taking each step in our stride, knowing I had to prove these lads wrong. With a couple of slips and trips along the way we eventually got to the top and confronted them. One said, “Did you guys find that tough then?” To which I replied, “I’ve done a lot tougher mate!” Felt quite proud of that one.”

Frontman Adam chooses: Brancaster Estate, Brancaster, Norfolk

In 2017 I spent a transitionary part of my life living in a small village in North Norfolk. The bleak, flat landscape is etched in my memory, a harsh contrast to my youth in the Yorkshire Wolds. Most of the villages in the area were those that Alan Partridge mentions in his radio shows, places like Dersingham and Snettisham. After a hard day’s work running a small woodland campsite, I often sought out the quiet solitude of Brancaster Beach, with only their colony of resident Grey Seals for company. And sometimes? Sometimes I would talk to them.

National Trust EP is out now. 

More about: Blanketman