Photo: Press
As it’s Halloween, it’s highly apposite that Brighton garage-pysch quartet The Wytches should choose today, of all days, to release new material in the shape of ‘Double World’. And not only that, you’ve got two versions of the same song to indulge in.
It’s the first new material to have emerged from the band this year. And what’s immediately apparent is that ‘Double World’ finds the band moving into altogether more spacious yet weird and eldritch territories.
Speaking of the track, The Wytches’ frontman Kristian Bell said: “We recorded the track a few months ago but felt it was quite different to the direction we're going in with the writing for the next album so we thought it would make for an interesting Halloween special.”
He’s not wrong there. Less in your face than previous efforts such as ‘Digsaw’ or ‘Robe For Juda’, ‘Double World’ is a more textured record and one that employs acoustic guitars as well as great deal of space and mood. The result is an exercise in tension and release that marks a departure for the band.
The single’s video was directed by guitarist Mark Breed and features a mysterious and menacing hooded figure making its way across the kind of pastoral locations that suggest occult practices and other anti-social, after-dark behaviour. Like dogging, perhaps.
And if that’s not enough for you, the track is backed with a second reading, ‘Double World (Sludge Version)’. Harking back to the band’s earlier sound, it’s a good enough indicator as any as to how The Wytches have evolved.
The Wytches then the hit the UK for a tour in November and December. They play:
NOVEMBER
23 - Peterborough, The Met Lounge
24 - Reading, South Street Arts Centre
25 - Newcastle, The Riverside
26 - Tunbridge Wells, The Forum Basement
27 - Tunbridge Wells, The Forum Basement
28 - Bristol, The Louisiana
30 - Hull, The Polar Bear
DECEMBER
01 - Manchester, Soup Kitchen
02 - Liverpool, The Shipping Forecast
03 - Sheffield, The Plug
05 - Birmingham, Hare V2
06 - Swansea, Sin City
07 - Cardiff, Club IFor Bach
