Yndi Halda

Yndi Halda (pronounced YIN-dee hal-DAR and stylised "yndi halda" in lower case) is a post-rock band from Canterbury, England. 'Yndi Halda' is Old Norse for "Enjoy Eternal Bliss", also the name of their self-titled debut. The band's music is characterized by expansive, cinematic pieces that have seen them compared to post rock and modern classical genres.

History

With members James Vella (guitar, glockenspiel, lapsteel, piano, banjo, organ, and vocals), Jack Lambert (guitar), Brendan Grieve (bass guitar), Daniel Neal (violin), and Oliver Newton (drums), the band formed in 2001 while all of the members were still in school. Former bassist Daniel Lovegrove (also the sole member of Unstatuesque) was apparently only considered a band member during the recording of 'Enjoy Eternal Bliss'. In the summer of 2005, they began recording the three tracks that would appear on the initial self-release of Enjoy Eternal Bliss, which was finished in the autumn of that year.

The self-released edition of Enjoy Eternal Bliss was often reviewed favorably (although the band has copied negative reviews onto its MySpace site) and gained attention because of its distinctive, individualized hand-made covers. The group's first set of material has been compared to Mogwai, Godspeed You! Black Emperor,^[1] Explosions in the Sky, Mono,^[2] and Sigur Rós.^[3]

They gained a strong fanbase from the self-released EP despite their limited exposure on the live circuit and signed to the acclaimed European record label Big Scary Monsters and Burnt Toast Vinyl in North America in 2006. The world-wide release of the Enjoy Eternal Bliss EP followed in February 2007. It featured a fourth song previously unavailable on the self-released edition. Despite still being billed as an EP, the four song version runs more than one hour in length.^[4] The band were voted 'Ones To Watch in 2007' by Rock Sound magazine in the UK, who awarded Enjoy Eternal Bliss a near-perfect score in the February 2007 issue.

The band toured the UK, Europe, North America and Asia to promote the release of Enjoy Eternal Bliss. Live shows also included performing at the Rhâââ Lovely Festival in Belgium, the Formoz Festival in Taipei, the Electrical Lands Festival in Paris, the Rockomotives Festival in Vendôme and at the Barbican Hall in London. The Insider's Guide to Beijing 2008 refers to the band's August 2007 performance in Beijing as part of their Asian tour as a demonstration of modern, western rock music becoming more prominent in the Chinese live scene. During 2007 "We Flood Empty Lakes", a song from Enjoy Eternal Bliss, was featured in a Fuel TV commercial.^[5]

New material has been debuted live since the last half of 2007, which has suggested a dramatic change in direction from the band. While previously almost entirely instrumental and electric, this new material has featured a notable shift to acoustic instruments (acoustic guitar, organ, double bass) and more vocal songwriting. According to the band's official Myspace blog two new songs will be titled "La Lumiere Lit" and "This Very Flight". Whether these songs will feature on a forthcoming new album is not yet known.

The band announced at their show in London on Thursday 19 July 2012 that they would be going to the studio in September to start recording their new record, however the band did not actually begin recording until April 2013. The band finished recording the album in October 2014, with mixing being completed in February 2015.^[6][7] As of May 2015 the future of the recordings were still unclear.^[8] In November 2015, Yndi Halda announced that their new album will be released in March 2016 and will be titled "Under Summer".^[9] It was finally released on 4 March 2016.^[10]

Members

Current members

• James Vella (guitars, glockenspiel, lapsteel, banjo, piano, keyboard, vocals)
• Jack Lambert (guitars)
• Daniel Neal (violin)
• Alexander Petersen (bass)
• Oliver Newton (drums)

Former members

• Brendan Grieve (bass)
• Daniel Lovegrove (bass)

Discography

• Enjoy Eternal Bliss (2006)
• Under Summer (2016)

Additional

• Awake! Awoke! This Heavy Gloom (unofficial bootleg demo) ^[11]

Side Projects

The Lunchtime Sardine Club

The Lunchtime Sardine Club is Newton's solo side project. The debut album, Icecapades, can be ordered in physical or digital form from The Lunchtime Sardine Club's Bandcamp page here.

A Lily

James Vella has a side project called A Lily and writes fiction.

Discography

• wake:sleep (2006), Album, Dynamophone Records
• I Dress My Ankles with God's Sweetest Words EP (2008), EP, Dynamophone Records
• Thunder Ate The Iron Tree (2011),Album, p*dis Records, Japan only
• Lupa EP (2013), EP, Love Thy Neighbour Records (UK), Aagoo Records (USA)
• Roma [forthcoming] (2016), Album,

Bibliography

• Devourings (2014), short story collection, Wounded Wolf Press
• Devoured Further (2015), audio story collection, Open Pen

O Rosa Records

In 2006, Vella launched a new record label O Rosa Records, named after a passage from Herman Hesse's novel Steppenwolf. The label's ethos is "to present special music; works of art that could have been released anywhere in the world at any time in human history; music that sings intimately to you and I. We are not a business, we are a creative endeavour". Its first few planned releases are by Whip, Sylvain Chauveau, and Rivulets. The label's website can be found here.

References

External links

• Official Site
• Last.fm page
• Official MySpace page
• Band Interview
• Interview with Yndi Halda on their first American tour by Tom Butcher, The Silent Ballet