Halifax band The Orielles certainly cannot be accused of standing still. And with their new album Only You Left, they push the realms of experimental territory, continuing a journey that has gradually taken them away from their early indie-garagey pop beginnings.
That shift became fully apparent on Tableau (2022), a gauzy, fragile record that immersed the listener in drifting textures and loose, exploratory structures. But the seeds had been planted earlier. Sugar Tastes Like Salt from 2017, hinted at a band already itching to break out of its indie confinement. Both playful and proggy it felt like a testing ground — and as a live finale at their shows, it absolutely nailed it.
Only You Left builds on the foundations of Tableau without abandoning the band’s earlier sound. Instead, it consolidates these strands. Although the tracks on Only You Left are a more traditional four minutes long, it’s striking how expansive they are, the non-linear song structure allowing them space to breathe.
The band continue to collaborate closely with producer and engineer Joel Anthony Patchett: “Joel brings an extra level of interpretation and deep listening,” says Henry, “and it’s always exciting to explore that.” In addition the recording of the album in two very opposing environments – a clinical studio in Hamburg and a cosier space on the Greek Island of Hydra – has had a profound influence on the direction and sound of this material as the band absorbed elements from each – the hard and the soft, the “wood and the metal” as vocalist and bass player Esmé Hand-Halford explains.
The opener Three Halves, is one of the strongest tracks on the album (and one they’ve already played live to great effect), from its opening guitar riff to a fragile central passage before gathering itself again as Esme’s vocals knit it all together.
Ember reveals another side of the band’s evolving approach. Beginning with a single syncopated note, the track gradually expands. As Esmé introduces the title’s refrain – “only you left, only you right”, layers of instrumentation begin to spill outward, building a quietly euphoric swell as the vocals recede into the background. Those pops, a feature of the band’s earlier work, make a return too.
At the album’s centre is space to breathe with the folk-leaning The Woodland Has Returned. Dreamy and meditative with rippling guitars, Esmé’s vocals entwine with Henry Carlyle Wade’s, creating a moment of calm amid the album’s shifting textures. You Are Eating A Part of Yourself echoes the languorous and hazy feel of Tableau, with whispers, fragments heard from another room.
I saw The Orielles at The Trades, Hebden Bridge, late February when they revealed some of this new material. Whether it was the warmth of a homecoming crowd or a result of the more mature place the band are in right now, they were awesome and their energy was palpable. Drummer Sidonie Hand-Halford, usually half hidden at the back of the stage, was positioned at the front of the stage, side on. Being able to watch her intricate drumming technique was a rare treat.
With Only You Left, The Orielles aren’t so much reinventing themselves as refining what they’ve been building towards. The title may sound elegiac, “leaning into the beauty of sadness a little bit’, as Sidonie clarifies, but the music itself feels open-ended – exploratory and quietly confident about where the next step might lead.
The Orielles play the ICA in the round, London on Friday 19 June. Tickets
The Orielles Only You Left release date 13th March via Heavenly Recordings
Order the album here