Photo by Nick J Stone
The Norwich quartet Takeda have released their new tune ‘Sugar Mountain’, bringing fuzz to folk-rock and capturing contrast through fragility and force. It’s the first taste of the upcoming debut album In Venus’ Train, due in September.
A six-minute epic built around a cranked acoustic guitar tone that steadily becomes a distorted main character, it’s a track rooted in performance. What begins with a hushed, gentle introduction soon unfolds into a storyteller’s distortion, with captivating vocal narration and jolting dynamic shifts, pushing their folk sensibility into an alt-rock framing.
Frontman Josh Harrison explains, “Sugar Mountain is about feeling life slip away from you, like sand escaping from a clenched fist. ‘Sugar Mountain’ was recorded live, and is a raw studio take captured playing live together in the room. We wanted to get across the intensity of our live shows. The unique guitar sound is created on a Martin acoustic guitar, through two big valve amps, cranked!..The way the whole band explodes on demand and by surprise. That’s a theme with this whole album, lyrically and musically”
Thriving in contradiction, poetic and gritty, arranged to perfection, but emotionally volatile. Takeda itself was formed following Josh’s departure from a rural cult in 2022. The backstory has spun into a band with a reputation for intensity and unpredictability. Their album means more to come at the collision of folk mysticism and grunge-laced tonality. Save the date.
Listen here…
