Dutch Uncles: Momentum
Organic in growth and now three albums into their career, Manchester’s Dutch Uncles pitched their tents firmly in pop’s leftfield with their eponymous first album released on German record label Tapete and then following on with ever increasingly ambitious follow-ups: ‘Cadenza’ (2011) and ‘Out Of Touch In The Wild’ (2013) through London label, Memphis Industries.
With each release there’s been no great reinvention, just great progress; as Dutch Uncles grow, mature and refine what they do best… making labyrinthine pop of Escher-like complexity and crystal clarity.
Their latest album has been greeted with pretty much universal, critical acclaim – for which the band’s musical appeal and dichotomy is summed up in the following extract from its BBC Music review – “Where once the choice had to be made between disposable pop fun and beard-stroking academic ‘real’ music, bands such as Dutch Uncles are, happily for all, rendering such a choice unnecessary, permitting us to both have our pop music cake and (oh so intellectually) eat it.”
Testament to this, their appeal is compounded by the band receiving invitations to tour Europe from such diverse acts as Wild Beasts to a recent tour with Paramore. A thrilling and polished live act, the band are performing at numerous festivals over the summer and then join Everything Everything on their UK tour in October, following on by hitting the road again in the UK in Nov/Dec with their on headline shows augmented by a string quartet.
Funding will help Dutch Uncles to keep creative and commercial momentum in producing their fourth studio album. It will include more expansive instrumentation, increased studio time and improved recording techniques, production values and workflow previously unavailable to them on smaller recording budgets.
Dutch Uncles told us:
“We were all exceptionally pleased to hear the news that our application to the Momentum Music Fund was successful and this fills us with excitement about the increased possibilities now open to us as we start to approach the recording of our next album.”