Pastel - Souls In Motion
The Spirit Of Spike Island label has gathered pace over the last few years.
Though Afflecks Palace, the band led by label head J. Fender, has built up an impressive fanbase, anticipation for the debut album by fellow Mancunians Pastel could lead to their biggest statement yet.
If you’ve ever wondered or hoped to hear The Verve fronted by former Kasabian frontman Tom Meighan, Pastel have the answer. Unsurprisingly, the answer is big – very big.
Their debut album has been a long time coming; their first single, ‘She Waits For Me’, was released just as the world went into lockdown (mercifully, nearly five years ago), followed by a procession of singles over the preceding two years.
In 2022, they played to a crowd of 85,000 people at Liam Gallagher’s Knebworth show and built on it with further singles.
So, there is a certain degree of expectation on Pastel’s shoulders. They kept a low profile last year, burrowed away in the studio, but now the fruit of their labour is here and, in keeping with the band’s attitude and output so far, it’s a boisterous body of songs.