Alright, I need to write a quick introduction to this Edinburgh band, folda, and that’s easy! Just picture this:
A cold London morning.
Chris Martin of Coldplay rises from his bed of palm leaves and their essential oils. A lustrous orange light floods the bedroom through a curved panoramic window as dawn breaks across the city skyline.
He sits down at a minimalistic dressing table – made out of unvarnished wood and silver feathers – before gazing into a florally adorned mirror, the shape of which is cut into the outline of a freefalling butterfly.
Slowly, as he blinks and attempts to appreciate the air engorging all the lungs of the world, his hair thickens and plumes violently across his scalp. Stylish, contemporary facial hair sprouts atop and around his lips, the follicles of which are black as night, while the corners of his gentle smile tear downwards to form a despondent, fashionably woe-ridden pout.
The clouds burst and the skies crack like the sudden Scottish burr erupting from Mr Martin’s hollow cheeks.
Somewhere else (probably in nice countryside cottages or something), the other three guys grow trendy beards/long hair/both.
So, there you are. Dark Coldplay. That’s folda.
… Hm, yeah, you’re right, I should have just said that in the first place, you’re absolutely right.
The group do describe themselves as a “dark pop band” and their atmospheric sound certainly embodies that vibe. Their website claims musical influences ranging from the 1975 to Sigrid but, honestly, their new single ‘you won’t’ is, to me, much more indebted to the likes of Calvin Harris for its rhythmic style of relaxed beat drops and club scene sweatiness.
The song’s lyrical setting seems to be constructing a straightforward narrative of a disappointing romantic liason, the singer bemoaning his ladylove’s lacking fidelity with the line “you were rushing out while I was trying to pay.” Shakespearean in its tragedy, is it not?
Anyway, its tone and language is quite interesting in that it links into clubbing motifs (“getting lost in the heat”; “getting sunk in the beat”) in an attempt to convey the emotions of abandonment and disappointment that the song’s protagonist suffers.
The musicality of the group is evident as the production on the song is certainly on par with current mainstream releases of the late night club pop genre they inhabit (mostly in that you can barely make out the lyrics, but no-one seems to care about those anymore anyway). If you’re a fan of low-key modern music that gets your booty groovin’ then these guys are certainly the band for you. But, if you’re looking for something exciting and different, well, they’re probably something worth avoiding.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with their new song structurally or content-wise. However, as I’ve said, there is nothing particularly of note here that boasts newness or originality to single folda out as an artist to watch (though, with that being the case, they’re probably more likely to make some tasty cash in today’s industry, so all power to them). But, seriously, their sound is familiar and will most likely appeal to the average younger listener. I also think that this is what - at least in my twisted mind - makes them a darker iteration of a band like Coldplay.
If you look at their history, Coldplay have continuously evolved and changed with the times over the last one and a half decades to keep themselves relevant with the crowds. With folda, we have a group who are obviously keeping themselves contemporarily relevant. However, in comparison to Coldplay, their songs lack a bone-crushing, septum-bending lyrical hook or melodic grab that could propel their music to the next level of popular relevance: music that doesn’t simply sound like everybody else’s.
Look, I’m a tough critic when it comes to this. Coldplay are another four-piece who have turned to more processed, electronic sounds – much like the ones that drown the production on ‘you won’t’ – but at least they did it with a back catalogue of memorably unique songs, showing variety in both their personal music taste and songwriting prowess.
Basically, here’s my critical message: if you’re a fan of folda’s previous releases you’re about to get more of that dark synth pop goodness here. You'll love it. If you're not a fan, well, for want of a better summing up... you won't.
It’s not quite for me but, hey, my favourite Coldplay song is “Warning Signs” and you won’t even have heard of that one, will you? So, what the heck do I know?! Check folda out with the links below.
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