A live, raw and intimate EP from the house-sharing Leeds based musical sensation

Recorded in the bands converted cellar studio, this EP is raw, powerful and exceptional in tone, set-up and creation. Hard to believe, but this was actually recorded straight to minidisk, with no post production, overdubs or anything else… purely and simply four day Hombre.

As far as live CD’s go this one is all about images, each track takes you to new places, and in new directions, allowing you to peer deeper into the conscious and unconscious thoughts of four day Hombre.

‘Need To Know’- This track is raw, both on the vocal and instrumental front, it just bellows confusion at large volumes straight at you. The scratching yet undulating introduction leaves you frantic and dazed. Imagine the scene…. it’s like being thrown into a surrounding, where all that you know and all that you’ve learnt is challenged. The building, the images, they are all familiar yet somehow distorted, somewhat rearranged. As each and every line passes, and with every second of instrumental wandering, you grow accustomed to the imbroglio, so much so you can rearrange your setting leaving you, by the end fully familiarised with your surrounding. A surrounding as far removed as it is embedded in all that you have seen and heard before.

‘Small Talk’- The focus of this song is firmly placed on the military, rhythmic, almost rolling background percussion. This song by all accounts just bursts into life in the final section; it is energetic to the fullest definition of the word. The vocals on this track are so up close and atmospheric you can’t help but visualise it being played live.

‘Don’t Tell Me Now’- a deep moving track that is laced with genuine emotion. Throughout this track my mind is bombarded with a sense of lost love, heartbreak and unadulterated sentiment all rolled into 6 minutes of vocal supremacy. The into conveys this feeling of deep lose, while the gargantuan mid-section just portrays anger yet, in an almost controlled manor, a pure explosion of the deepest of all emotions. The song ends by descending into a calm, almost tranquil reflection almost realisation period, with undulating keyboard meandering expressing this theme.

‘Waiting For The Sun’- Lazy and laid back in tempo, this track is a soothing late night/ early morning moment with its soft yet well-rounded vocals. It is not hard to envisage images of sunsets, beaches and a whole cavalcade of other such enchanting, warm and temperate locations when listening to a track such as this.

‘Allow Me’- a very lively and ambient track with a very interesting and out-of-the-blue small section in the middle. The scary thing is the song they decide to do a wee cover of, actually sounds so fitting. I won’t ruin the surprise by saying what it is instead I’ll leave you to find out. That aside, this track has a fast tempo with a dropping bass line and quick paced cymbals. The vocals are very intimate, very powerful and bordering on intimidating in a very positive sense. This vocal intimacy is later replaced by instrumental supremacy when a whole collaboration of different sounds- each expressing different emotions bombarding them straight at the listener.

‘Trace My Way’- Play this track at 3am in the morning when things are going wrong, listen to those lyrics and just open your mind. Simplistic in the majority of instrumental set up, this allows the lyrics to really penetrate, with some word and phrases being more prominent than others. Each listen increases the strength; this is especially true for the deeply emotive and unequivocally powerful mid section.

‘Friends Like These’- “My weapon of choice, the turn tables!”- Opening line to the track that gives Leon AKA Dave Double Decks, the chance to show off his true musical credentials. A fantastically lively little number, that combines not only a range of styles, but a range of sound effects as well. Scratching decks and laughter are just two of many noises used in that masterful background wizardry to great effect. That aside this track is perfectly weighted on all musical fronts. The tongue-in-cheek, slap-in-the-face lyrics compliment and enhance the energetic, lively ambience.

‘Children’s Shoes’- The standout feature for me has to be the snatching vocals, almost spoken at various points. The whole song seems to build up to the end section; throughout you expect this massive culminating finish, but ends instead in true ironic and almost tongue in cheek style. Always great to end on such an upbeat note.

four day Hombre seem to have it all, diversity, imagination, charm, charisma and live performances that often exceed even the quality produced here on this CD- and believe me that’s saying a lot! Catch them on record and catch them live- trust me, you won’t be disappointed. Listen out for these guys, you will be hearing from them again