Black Diamond Bay (2)

Black Diamond Bay are a Leeds based 7 piece who play imaginative electro/indie/folk, but as with all things in life it is not quite that simple. The twists and turns of their music make it difficult to reduce it down to a simple set of musical rules. There is something ethereal and elemental about Black Diamond Bay that just won’t slot into a simple off the cuff definition. Black Diamond Bay were born out of attic based production duo Tarentum who brought in some hand picked musicians from Leeds College of Music to join them and play their songs. Lithuanian ingénue Agnes Motieciute was the first to audition. Her beautiful voice and subtly threatening early Bardot persona made her the first recruit to the cause. Agnes was swiftly followed by Holly Thomas whose vocal strengths and confident character complemented Jesse and Agnes’ vocals perfectly. The line up expanded further to include Colin Sutton on bass (aka fastest bass player in Yorkshire) and Anglo-Iranian guitarist Ben Ziapour. These were significant factors in the selection process, along with their dance moves and capacity for abstract thought Ben Wilson a protégé of Colin’s became the drummer, not only for his unerring ability to keep time under pressure but also due to his status as resident dark horse. His musical genius spans several genres and a multitude of instruments too numerous for inclusion in this dispatch (a list will be provided on request). The debut release on exceptional Worship The Sun is a call to arms and about wresting spirituality from the arms of religion. A fitting debut statement for a band that takes their name from Bob Dylan’s eponymous song about empathy. Worship The Sun blends the organic with the artificial, Tom experimenting with Bluegrass rhythms instead of the drum and bass feel commonly used on fast electronica. Black Diamond Bay have a history that includes random elements like: a childhood Eurovision experience, broadcast script writing, being the number one act on MySpace Lithuania for 2009, playing the main stage to great acclaim at Kendal Calling, with further support from BBC Radio Leeds, Kiss, 6 Music and XFM prior to formally releasing any music. However beyond what you might seem immediately obvious about the band there is that other intangible element that all great bands have in common, a sense of poetry and mystery. Black Diamond Bay are there to unfold, it begins with “Worship The Sun” and the debut album “XYZ” that follows later in 2010.