REFUGE, the London-based five piece fronted by Welsh singer and guitarist Joe Corbett, have announced the release of their debut album, Almost Nearly There, on May 16th and a London show to celebrate at Chats Palace E9.
Refuge are Joseph Corbett (vocals, guitars), Andrius Damusis (guitars), Matteo Iachetti (keyboards), Ike Onwuagbu (bass) and Louis Macfarlane (drums) and the band are the very definition of cosmopolitan: one of three siblings and brought up by his mother and stepfather, vocalist and chief songwriter Joe Corbett is from Llanishen, a small village north of Cardiff, whilst guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Andrius hails from a small town in the south of Lithuania, keyboardist Matteo comes from Teramo, close to the Adriatic coast, bassist Ike is one of four siblings of Nigerian heritage, and drummer Louis was born in Leytonstone. The band are also the very definition of how a modern-day rock band should conduct themselves: they are passionate advocates for the Music Venue Trust, and individual sections of the band give food to the Oasis Hub Waterloo – the centre provides community activities, programmes and workshops – as well as working for non-profit music charities like the Newham Music Trust.
The album features eight tracks including all three singles the band have released to date, Bored, What If and Nearly. The full track listing runs as follows: Bored, What If?, Lady Of The Night, Critical Mass, Lay It On Me, In Too Deep, Nearly, Low Winter’s Sun. Almost Nearly There kicks off with the band’s debut single, Bored, an Ultrasound/Kings of Leon-tinged song about being frustrated at the way the world is going – prejudices against the colour of someone’s skin and who someone chooses to love or be loved by, the hypocrisy of religions and our world leaders – before What If? asks: what if we could do things a different way and keep the same innocence and acceptance that we have as children?
After that we get the funked-up Lady of the Night which was inspired by a sex worker that Joe used to see seven days a week on his early morning delivery shift, the epic, prog-pop infused Critical Mass, and the bluesy Lay It On Me – about the exuberance of youth and losing your virginity to someone who is far more experienced than you – before an extraordinarily ballad called In Too Deep tugs at your heartstrings. Finally, we get Nearly – a song about Joe’s long-term attempts to keep his head above water financially, and a story song about the passage of time in a man’s life – which comes across as the bastard child of Roxy Music’s Virginia Plain, and Low Winter’s Sun, a reflection on the long and winding road that’s led to Refuge’s point in the musical universe.
The London show to celebrate the release of the debut album on Saturday May 16th will take place at Chats Palace, 42-144 Brooksby’s Walk, Homerton, E9 6DF. Tickets are £16.26 (inc. booking fee) and you can access tickets and information here.
Find Refuge on Facebook, X/Twitter and Instagram
Photo supplied by Jane Savage PR
All words by Iain Key. See his author profile here or find him via his LinkTree
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