The Fragile Mind of Belle Mare [free Ep]

For whatever reason, a woman in pain, a woman lost, will always sound compelling when put to music.  Amelia Bushell and Thomas Servidone, together known as Belle Mare, packed plenty of that emotion into their debut EP, The Boat Of The Fragile Mind.  Added to the pain, however, is another layer: madness, or at least the brink of it.

London native Bushell doesn’t sound lost exactly, but she is evasive — her voice is by turns an airy wave to Vashti Bunyan and Karen Dalton, and a ghostly salute to Ruth Etting. Bushell’s singing and Servidone’s sparse, emotional instrumentals draw us in with strokes of the familiar and keep us there with the understated strangeness of her low, darkly muted sorrow. If you’re into Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, Angel Olsen, and Beach House, you will love Bell Mare.

Tempering clarity and beauty with convincing doubt and fear gives Belle Mare a theatrical, haunting edge over the many other female-fronted nods to the past.  This is a band we are truly enamored with, a band that we’re thrilled to follow as they evolve and capture the hearts of new listeners.  Ready to jump on the bandwagon?  Download their EP, available for the time being only on Bandcamp (they’re officially releasing the EP this spring), for free right here.