Over 8 million Spotify streams, numerous sold out shows and a Main Stage set at Truck Festival are certainly a far cry from the Mancunian dream factory of Fallowfield, where The Covasettes first put their heads together not all that long ago.
That said, their latest single ‘One Tear at a Time’ is a sure sign that the Manchester four piece have no intention of resting on their laurels and do in fact have even greener pastures in mind.
When talking to ‘About Manchester’, frontman Chris Buxton suggested that the song was only ever intended to exist as a vinyl bonus track and was willed into a more tangible existence by the band’s passionate fanbase by way of social media. And thank God it was. Anorak industry trivia aside, I think ‘One Tear at a Time’ is genuinely one of The Covasettes’ most self assured and even handed releases to date.
Throughout, the track expunges so many of the classic (but often lazy) tropes of the genre whilst simultaneously providing shining examples of its fundamentals at their best.
The jagged, repetitive guitar lines of old are swapped for sweeping, melodic riffs that encourage your ears to prick up when you’re in the front room and not just off your face in the front row. Equally, the catchy but often slogan-like lyricism is nowhere in sight whilst memorable, emotive prose hangs pride of place.
Buxton has described the song as being about “The whirlwind of emotions after having a breakup, trying to find your new normal bit by bit, or as I would say, one tear at a time”. Now, it would have been easy for an indie band to record a track with such a sentiment and find themselves left with the audio equivalent of Harry Enfield’s Kevin The Teenager. In fact, many have.
Thankfully, The Covasettes’ have achieved quite the opposite.The constant yet playful relationship between the drums and bass give the song an optimistic bounce yet never divert attention from Buxton’s lyricism. If anything, they accentuate it.
It is clear by now that The Covasettes are a band very much on the up. They have just announced a UK tour and made light work of selling out pre-sale tickets. If, for whatever reason, you still find yourself in need of convincing, then look no further than this single. I believe it shows off the very best of modern indie music and I have no doubt they have so much more to give.
Written by Iwan Grant
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