Vega Rally give Spike Island their latest hit.
The Spirit Of Spike Island is a truly independent label that’s building up a head of steam: Afflecks Palace have two splendid albums to their name, Pastel are being name-dropped by the likes of Ride’s Andy Bell and this latest offering promises to consolidate their position.
Vega Rally (real name Simon Hall) is a self-taught bedroom producer from Manchester (but of course) who signed to The Spirit Of Spike Island last year.
With over 100k streams and airplay from BBC Radio 6 Music and Radio X across three singles to date, the future is promising for the young man.
This EP collects all his material thus far, from the swaggering stomp of Infinity 93 (which could be mistaken for a remix of The Stone Roses’ Waterfall) complete with beguiling, keys-driven mid-section to the ragged, rhythmic Come Out N Play.
On the latter, Vega Rally channels his inner Richard Ashcroft, but rather than the baritone of today, it’s the angelic, dreamy version of early Verve, while the chiming guitars create an atmosphere of nostalgia.
The vibe of the title-track creates a feeling of being recorded in a cave with Hall’s vocals almost whispered alongside a noodling riff and looped bassline. Quite beautiful, in an understated way, while closing track Back At It Again is multi-layered, pressing a certain button in the mind making it naggingly familiar, even if it’s the first time it’s been heard. Perhaps it’s the yearning, spindly guitar lick or the repeated mantra ‘anywhere you wanna go,’ which shuffles in conjunction with the rhythm.
Revealing more on each listen, This Moment confirms that Vega Rally is most definitely one to watch.