Take a Lively Jaunt to Hell with James Edge and the Mindstep’s ‘Four Two Four’

James Edge. Photo courtesy of the artist

The new single ‘Four Two Four,’ from London avant-folk band James Edge and the Mindstep, lies somewhere between the paranoid melodies of OK Computer and a nightmarish hootenanny. The song sounds sweet and seductive on the surface, but then a lyric about drowning passes by, and the jumpy violin swerves nervously, and you suddenly get the feeling that this whole chaotic composition might come crashing down. It’s a freewheeling convergence of mood and style that only master musicians could pull off this effortlessly.

‘Four Two Four’ is available as a single (due September 23rd) and precedes an LP called Machines He Made, due later this year. The album, like the song, veers wherever it pleases, leading the listener from a squalling string section to a sweetly stirring melody and back.

James Edge and the Mindstep released their debut LP, In The Hills, The Cities, in 2010. The group’s core trio consists of James Edge, bassist Andy Waterworth and drummer Avvon Chambers. The trio are joined on ‘Four Two Four’ by violinist Howard Gott, whom Edge instructed to “Make the song like a 5/4 barn dance in hell.”