Just three songs in and The Facades are already hurtling in the right direction following radio play from BBC Introducing and XS Manchester, shows with Cabbage, The Lottery Winners and Sleeper, and festival sets including the Isle of Wight and Y Not?. Now The Facades aim higher as they join the This Feeling Records family with ‘Beautiful’, their first single for the label which will be released on November 9th.
‘Beautiful’ shows that The Facades immediately stand out as something different from the wider UK alternative scene. While many bands have a loose, punky exuberance, The Facades’ love of ragged melody is channelled into a performance of fiery, taut precision. There’s also a timelessness to their songwriting – if you stripped everything back to basics this new hope of indie would also flourish in the folk-pop arena. Best of all is Alannah Webb’s vocal gift: power, poise and personality all flowing into one supremely expressive voice.
Alannah says, “This song is about sometimes not feeling as beautiful as you are and admiring others for their looks and their self-confidence themselves. A lot of young adults feel inadequate, but feel like they have to keep those feelings hidden. It’s also about the subjectivity of beauty and how women feel it’s necessary to live up to society’s standards, even though it’s impossible to feel good about yourself all the time.”
‘Beautiful’ was written by The Facades – completed by Evan Armstrong (guitar), Sam Bowery (bass) and Luke Ashton (drums) – and was produced by Gareth Nuttall (The Lottery Winners, The K’s).
Inspired by bands such as Wolf Alice and The Coral, The Facades were formed by Alannah and Evan, who quickly added Sam and Luke to the line-up. They formed just weeks before the first lockdown, but rather than sinking in their misfortune they did the best they could – writing individually and remotely recording demos together before they were finally reunited. It proved to be a blessing in disguise, especially when their second single, a bedroom produced demo ‘Don’t Ask’, was aired on BBC Introducing.
Since then, they’ve wasted no time performing primarily around the midlands and north-west. They’re also emerging as a new name from the fervent Wigan scene, joining the likes of The Lathums, Stanleys, Flechettes and The Lilacs. Their next gig comes when they headline a 300 capacity homecoming show at Wigan Boulevard on November 11th.
