EP REVIEW: Pleiades – If Your Roots Run Deep, You Can’t Fear The Wind

‘…a densely crafted, complex, and often beautiful listening experience that carries a rich emotive weight…’

Self-described ‘post-something’ outfit Pleiades have returned. The northern English band released their debut LP, ‘Affinity With’, back in 2023, and have become cult favourites of the alternative underground, featuring on plenty of line-ups with fellow emerging icons such as Lure In and El Moono. Next month sees the band play their second time for Noizzefest, alongside the mighty unpeople.

Ahead of this, the band have dropped a brand new EP that explores one’s connection to their hometown, and the love and pain that is woven into this. With each track title pulling from the postcode of a respective band member, ‘If Your Roots Run Deep, You Can’t Fear the Wind’ immediately makes for an interesting artistic statement without a single note having been played.

‘SK4/SK7 (Seek Kindness/Safe Keeping)‘ is a blistering opening number for the EP, showcasing perfectly the heavier aspects of this band. Vocalist Andy Calderbank makes for a vicious presence, with sharp, piercing vocals that work perfectly alongside the jagged, punchy riffs that puncture the track. ‘CV5 (Constant Variation)’ makes for a wonderfully interesting listen thanks to the intricate guitar work and constant tonal ebb and flow.

The highlight is undoubtedly ‘LA1 (Left Aimless)‘, which is a beautifully constructed track that weighs heavy with a nostalgic melancholy. Guitar melodies softly intertwine with one another atop of a slow-paced yet surging rhythm, ebbing and flowing between sparse verses and rich, soaring, densely orchestrated choruses. Calderbank effortlessly alternates between sombre yet captivating melodies and sharp screams, as he contemplates both the love for one’s home, and the pain that can remain there, truly embracing the roiling, shifting nature of the track.

The EP is rounded off with a surprising instrumental cut, ‘YO31 (Years Overnight)‘, which embraces thoroughly the ethereal sparseness that so often decorates the band’s sound. Similar to ‘LA1‘, the track possesses a shimmering beauty that weighs heavy with a sense of longing and nostalgia, evoking the feeling of estrangement from a familiar space. It’s a wonderful way of tying up the EP, and one can only imagine how well the band would utilise further instrumental moments in an LP format.

For a mere EP, what Pleiades have produced is a densely crafted, complex, and often beautiful listening experience that carries a rich emotive weight. From the unconventional track titles, to the manner in which the EP flows, you can truly appreciate that the band have approached this not as simply a collection of tracks to fulfil demands for content, but a work of art that deserves exploration and attention. If this is the sound of post-something, then the world desperately needs more of it.

RATING: 81/100 – Very Good

For Fans Of: The Contortionist, El Moono, Blanket, Plini, Love Is Noise

Follow the band on social media below:

Instagram // Spotify