Meet Painted Flowers: Joburg’s new alternative six-piece who exude a rich vintage flare. Mixing a ’60s rock tone with a country and blues twang to their debut project, “River Song” is as solid a first offering as we could have hoped for.
The group is headed by Elio Moavero on vocals, previously of SA’s own psych pundits Deadly Bites, who’s managed to round up an all-star cast of band members to feature on his debut lineup, including Valentino Moavero (also of Deadly Bites), Jonny Smith (Go Barefoot), Ricky Chasumba (The Ceramics), Josh Rogers (Raygun Royale) and Anika Reinecke (Half Sister).
“River Song”, the group’s first offering to round off 2020, is a combination of a two-track EP accompanied by a music video that’s just as old-school as their antique sound, shot entirely on film by Natalie Wra.
“Intro” opens as a short instrumental track recorded in-studio with a bunch of wood instruments that feel weirdly cinematic in their arrangement – like a classic Western on acid.
It’s a daze of a track, matched by the far-out analog production of follower “River Song”. This is a song about giving in to change, exploring new places and trying new and different things, sentiments pushed by a retro bassline and a tentatively smokey chorus from Phoenix Falconer. Think Tarantino meets Lynch, accompanied by an eclectic super-cut visual that’s vividly tempting.
And while 2020 hasn’t been the year anyone had hoped it would be, 2021 seems to be shaping up as the year Painted Flowers enter the scene guns blazing, with another EP set for release early next year.
