FEATURE:
Revisiting…
Penelope Isles - Until the Tide Creeps In
___________
WHILST their second album…
Which Way to Happy was released back in November, I wanted to use this feature to look at Penelope Isles’ debut album, Until the Tide Creeps In. A terrific album that should be played more, it is one that I would encourage people to seek out. It sounded like the album was quite eventful and, as band member Jack said, it was quite a rollercoaster ride. Led by the amazing Jack and Lily Wolter, I was excited when their debut album arrived in 2019. The core duo of the band, I hope that Penelope Isles get to tour a bit though this year. With two amazing and distinct albums under their belt, they definitely have a growing and admiring fanbase. Whilst there were some positive reviews for Until the Tide Creeps In, it is not an album you hear played too much on radio. BBC Radio 6 Music supported Penelope Isles when the album arrived, though I feel that not that many people are sharing and spinning Until the Tide Creeps In. It is a wonderful album that ranked alongside the very best of 2019. Released through Bella Union, it signalled huge promise from the Brighton-based Penelope Isles. I wanted to draw in a couple of positive reviews for an impressive debut. This is what PASTE wrote about Until the Tide Creeps In:
“Brother-sister songwriting duo Jack and Lily Wolter spent six years apart when the former left home to attend university. The break appears to have had a profound impact on them; absence pushed them both to develop their respective musical talents on their own, before reuniting in Brighton, leading to the birth of their indie rock collaboration Penelope Isles. Time gave them a chance to grow up and become the people they are today. As an added bonus, it gave them a ton of material for compositional inspiration.
Their change in scenery probably helps, too. The Wolters grew up on the Isle of Man, a remote island between England and Northern Ireland; sizewise, it’s about as big as a small neighborhood in New York City. Until the Tide Creeps In argues that Brighton made fertile ground for Jack and Lily to develop an aesthetic and carve out an identity as musicians alongside their bandmates, Becky Redford and Jack Sowton. Logistically, Until the Tide Creeps In probably wouldn’t have happened without the locale shift, but it definitely wouldn’t have happened without the time they spent away from each other.
Penelope Isles’ style ranges from psych pop to art rock, ringing with influences like Radiohead, The Hives, Grizzly Bear, Tame Impala, and maybe a pinch of the Flaming Lips. “Underwater Record Store,” the album’s fourth track, does sound like the kind of title Wayne Coyne would come up with for one of his own songs, after all; the image is evocatively bizarre, classic Lips, except it’s personal to the Wolter’s experience—it’s the only song on the record to make mention of their father. It isn’t the first time the record references him, though: The cover boasts a picture of their dad building a sandcastle, taken when he met Jack and Lily’s mother, which reinforces the familial bonds woven throughout Until the Tide Creeps In.
“Underwater Record Store” is the Wolters’ sweet, ethereal ode to dad, Lily’s account of a childhood incident on a beach or perhaps, simply a dream. Given the plaintive and astral quality of the music, maybe it’s a bit of both, a yarn about the time she built a sandcastle and sat helplessly to witness the iniquity of passerby trampling her work. “My Dad took me to a real castle / To make me see that nobody’s got me down,” she sings in reflective appreciation of the lesson, of Dad, of the memory. Like so much of Until the Tide Creeps In, “Underwater Record Store” is space the Wolters have created to examine together their individual and joint pasts. It’s music to reminisce to.
In keeping with the familial element, the Wolters present “Gnarbone”: a seven minute, uptempo track that, to the ear, reads like a journey through the gap in time and in age that divided them leading up to Penelope Isles’ formation. Taking turns on verse and chorus (“Did I see you fall apart / Left in dust and made of dirt / Did I see you fall in love / Kept in dust and made of dirt”), Jack and Lily invoke recollections of newborn days (“You never learnt to crawl / You didn’t have to”) and flash forward all the way up to their Brighton days (“And in the city where things are pretty / You find a new game / What a crying shame”). The music tinkles to start before giving way to fuzzier, distorted tones halfway through, ultimately looping back to the sound of Jack and Lily’s twinkling ruminations to finish. Like their lives together, the song is a cycle.
“Through the Garden,” Until the Tide Creeps In’s parting shot, closes out the record’s overriding focal point while putting a bow on its secondary motif: It’s a tribute to Mama Wolter by way of a separation. “Mother I love you but we must go,” Lily sings in exhortation to mom before repeating the chorus to close the track: “I walked home through the garden / Throw myself in the pillows / Could stay but I already know / My head would fall into a hole.” The raw heartache feels like it’s straight out of a break-up record, but Until the Tide Creeps In isn’t that; nor is it a mawkish trip down memory lane. Instead, it’s an album of reconciliation, an opportunity for Jack and Lily to make sense of their youth spanning into their adulthood”.
To round things off, NEW NOISE sat down with an album from a band who, by their own admission, are underrated and worthy of more ears and love:
“The summer of 2019 is quickly proving to be a real treasure trove of new music from underrated players in the scene, and through the mix of all of these new bands, some really unique and interesting artists have come to the surface. One of those bands is fronted by siblings Jack and Lily Wolter, of the Brighton, UK group, Penelope Isles. For those unfamiliar with the band, you may want to grow accustomed to them as they just released their debut album Until The Tide Creeps In, on July 12 via Bella Union and it’s really, really good (yes, we had to add another ‘really’ to emphasize just how good this record is…)
Until The Tide Creeps In is a collection of 10 lo-fi beachy pop anthems that’s the perfect addition to any summer playlist or occasion. The album features a cohesive and solid mixture of tracks that showcase their indie-pop harmonies, hazy instrumentals and intimately painted lyrics. With such an impressive mix of talents and a mesmerizing delivery of each song, it’s a little bewildering that this band is only on their debut release. The record feels like something from a group that’s on their fourth or fifth release as it has such a specifically mastered sound that holds up during each new track.
Every song on this album is something new and interesting as they each come in with a depth that give off a dizzyingly paced, yet, melodic story from each of the siblings’ perspective; which really brings this album to life. It’s clear that Penelope Isles knows what they’re doing, and they know how to do it well. From the start of the record to the very end, “Until The Tide Creeps In” pulls you in with its light, and oftentimes whimsical tracks, and it doesn’t let you go long after the last song plays”.
If you have not heard the amazing debut album from Penelope Isles, then do spend some time with Until the Tide Creeps In. With a second album out in the ether, they have gained more traction and are sure to make big waves in 2022. I know that the Jack and Lily Wolter-helmed force will be…
RECORDING for many years to come.