Wysteria Share ‘The Fuzzbrain Tapes’
The Manchester-based seven-piece move between delicate folk melodies, twinkling guitars and walls of noise on their three-track EP.
Forget the typical girl-and-boy electronic duo; Wysteria have delivered a far more interesting take on the pairing. Describing their sound as somewhere between folkmo and twinkle emo, James McGibbon and Ella Barnes made their debut as Wysteria at Fuzzbrain Studio’s Hoodstock Festival earlier this year. Since relocating to Manchester, they’ve expanded their party of two into a party of seven, growing their sound into something much bigger than its beginnings. Delicate folk melodies and hazy harmonies collide with twinkling guitars, saxophones and bursts of screaming, eventually building into walls of noise that make Wysteria difficult to squeeze into any one genre.
They draw influence from all over the place, from the chaotic, experimental world of Brave Little Abacus to the softer songwriting of Liz Phair and the heavier side of Die, Emperor! Die! These influences come together beautifully in Wysteria’s sound, with sensitive folk instrumentation and layered harmonies sitting alongside evocative yet chilling screams and huge waves of shoegaze noise, creating something that feels both gentle and completely overwhelming in the best way possible.
The Fuzzbrain Tapes, a three-track introduction to the world Wysteria are creating, captures that tension between noise and softness. Across ‘SYNCHRONICITY!theuniversesarecolliding!’, ‘Sepulchre’ and ‘Willow Tree’, Jack Bayley’s eerie screams contribute an additional dimension to their already expansive sound.
Wysteria are about to get a whole lot noisier. The seven-piece are preparing to take the stage at Samhain Festival in Manchester this October, a hardcore festival organised by James McGibbon. With acts such as Holly Head, Clive and Big Whale on the bill, Wysteria’s combination of twinkly emo, folk and sudden walls of noise should make for a pretty interesting addition to an otherwise heavy line-up.