Channel Cairo - "Elephant Room" 7" vinyl

Anglo-French quintet Channel Cairo (Vocalist and pianist Josh Bowyer; guitarists Hamish Murtagh and Luke Saunders, bassist Joe Cross and drummer James Gardiner) are a London based musical collective hell-bent on writing giant, timeless songs. Two pairs of long term friends (and a fifth member recruited via a show-stopping audition) came together and bonded over a love of spine-tingling harmony, and music that sings louder and longer than any fad or fashion.

With a sound that's been likened (by critics and fans alike) to Jeff Buckley, Radiohead, The Killers and Local Natives, the five piece have been gigging the London circuit furiously since their inception in 2010, playing shows with the likes of Wave Machines, Giant Steps, Let's Buy Happiness and Deep Sea Arcade - wowing crowds and building their fan-base simultaneously with their emotive, hard-hitting sounds.

London based club night and 7" label Laissez Faire Club (Ice Black Birds, The Collectable Few) signed the band up for their debut single just after its fourth birthday party at The Macbeth in January 2011 - where the band, playing the opening slot at 8pm, had the room packed to the rafters before delivering a sterling, memory embossing performance.

The chosen track for release, 'Elephant Room' (just 'Elephants' in its previous incarnation as one of the band's earliest demos), was produced and recorded by Tom Fuller (Patrick Wolf, David's Lyre) at North London's Snap Studios in the months directly following, and sets out their stall perfectly. Piano based, harmony filled, atmospheric, transportive and building up to a dramatic, frenzied conclusion, it's a firm, honest picture of where the band are now - and is also a taster of what to expect from them in the future. The B-side, an acoustic demo of live favourite 'Underrated Grace', is stripped down and sparse by comparison. Totally organic, it's just front man Bowyer on his own with his beloved piano, and is a thing of raw, simplistic beauty.

Track listing:
A. Elephant Room (4:21)
B. Underrated Grace (Acoustic Demo) (4:39)

LISTEN HERE

Released on 29 August 2011 and limited to just 500 copies worldwide.