Coma Wall Announce Ursa Minor EP out Aug. 28
Last time I recall Coma Wall doing a release was when the group — an alter-ego of recently-reunited UK crushers Undersmile — put out a split (discussed here and here) with their own, much-more-plugged incarnation. That was 2013. And, well, Undersmile are back together, so I guess it follows that Coma Wall would do something as well, and as more groups are digging into their archives as a result of not being able to play shows for the last several months, Coma Wall‘s Ursa Minor EP feels plenty timely even if the original basic tracks were put together during Undersmile‘s initial run.
The sound, of course, is far enough removed from Undersmile to be a different band, and the voices of Hel Sterne and Taz Corona-Brown lock into harmony early and stay that way for the duration, calling to mind a gorgeous redux of any number of grunge acts’ unplugged performances. As these are demos at their foundation, the three songs have a live feel underscoring them, but they’re not necessarily raw, either in the recordings (which have been mixed and worked on) or in the structures of the material itself. Mostly it’s just beautiful and sad.
They’ve got it up on Bandcamp now, and I’ve included the last Undersmile too, both for context and because I like it:
With 2020 plans curtailed by the global pandemic, we decided to look through the Undersmile archives and found these demos which we recorded in 2012. These 3 songs were originally written for Taz and Hel’s pre-Undersmile bands Skylla and Ursa Minor (hence the name of the EP) and date back to around 2007/2008. The performances were recorded live with bass and string overdubs added at a later date.
Although these recordings are just demos, the songs hold a special place in our hearts and so we dusted them off, remixed them, and now unleash them into the world. We hope you enjoy them.
Available here: https://comawall.bandcamp.com/releases
Tracklisting:
1. Breathe in the Ether
2. Wiretaps
3. Already Dead
All songs written by Taz Corona-Brown and Hel Sterne. Lyrics by Taz Corona-Brown.
Taz Corona-Brown – vocals and guitar
Hel Sterne – vocals and guitar
Olly Corona-Brown – bass
Tom McKibbin – keys
Recorded and mixed by Tom McKibbin.
Mastered by Joe Proudlove.
Artwork by Tom McKibbin.
Release date: 28th August 2020
https://www.facebook.com/ComaWall/
https://comawall.bandcamp.com/
http://www.facebook.com/Undersmile
https://undersmile.bandcamp.com/album/anhedonia
http://blackbowrecords.bigcartel.com/product/bbow007-undersmile-anhedonia-double-lp
