Fri 17 Aug 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES
Source: NET RHYTHMS webzine

It's a source of infinite regret (and not a little guilt) that this fabulous disc got mislaid within my review pile for the best part of six weeks, following which I had it on the car CD player on almost constant replay and it never got taken back indoors to be written about until now! Honest, it's that addictive - rich and heady yet full of sublime internal definition; beguiling and beautiful yet forthright and punchy; hypnotic and captivating yet never standing still for a moment.

Morning Bride turns out to be a genuinely Anglo-American outfit, with continents and sexes duly (and almost deliberately!) separated: Amity and Alexa both come from the NE of the USA, while Mark, Pete and Jim hail from English seaside towns: an ostensibly strange mix which doesn't give much of a clue to the music they produce. They're based in Hackney, east London - a situation which gives rise to the irony-laden album title, but then again the idiom's not delta blues by any definable stretch, instead more a kind of rootsy punk-Americana vision of moody anthemic balladry with a homegrown English indie sensibility that feels like the band have probably listened to as much early Fairport Convention and Nico as Tarnation, Maria McKee, Cowboy Junkies, To Hell With Burgundy and even Boothill Foot-tappers.

The Morning Bride sound world is pretty distinctive too: deep Southern twang guitars move around and collide with swooning cello, occasional melodica or keyboard touches and a purposeful (but not over-the-top or over-friendly) rhythm section, all as a backdrop to the vocals - the gorgeously sweet belting Amity Joy Dunn or the more velvety Mark James Pearson (think Johnny Cash and Lou Reed cohabiting this guy's larynx!). The actual songs, all Mark's creations (lyric-wise at any rate, with the band collaborating on the musical side of things) are replete with attention-grabbing big-time hooks for the choruses and often slow-build verses that let the deeply lovelorn and often surprisingly bitter words insinuate their way into you.

Any number of the songs here would impress on first play, but standouts are the opening pair (the epic This Place is No Place for Harbouring Angels and the more modest, if creepy Replica), the (at first) deceptively pretty waltzing of Time Delay with its feverish build, and the more twisted Zero One, Zero One. But then, I find new standouts every time I play the album through. What a superb debut!

Tue 3 Jun 2008
live preview - Bonanza
Source: Bonanza

Fri 9 May 2008
LIVE REVIEW
Source: THE INDEPENDENT

Wed 5 Mar 2008
GREETINGS FROM ABNEY PARK, N16
Source: PLAN B MAGAZINE

Tue 4 Mar 2008
PLAN B LIVE REVIEW, FEB 2008 ISSUE
Source: PLAN B MAGAZINE

Fri 1 Feb 2008
Live
Source: ALTER STATES

Tue 11 Dec 2007
Live at Hot Burrito, Newport, Wales
Source: soundsnew.com

Wed 7 Nov 2007
live review

Mon 15 Oct 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES
Source: HERE COMES THE FLOOD webzine

Mon 8 Oct 2007
LIVE AT THE FAVERSHAM, LEEDS 2007
Source: RAWKSTAR.NET

Tue 2 Oct 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES
Source: 17 SECONDS webzine

Mon 1 Oct 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES - ALBUM OF THE MONTH
Source: soundsnew.com

Sat 18 Aug 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES
Source: NOIZE MAKES ENEMIES webzine

Fri 17 Aug 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES
Source: NET RHYTHMS webzine

Sat 14 Jul 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES
Source: THE WORD MAGAZINE

Wed 6 Jun 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES
Source: Song, by Toad webzine

Wed 23 May 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES
Source: SOUNDSXP.COM

Mon 21 May 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES
Source: PICCADILLY RECORDS

Mon 7 May 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES
Source: AMERICANA UK

Thu 19 Apr 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES
Source: ROCK N REEL MAGAZINE

Sun 1 Apr 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES
Source: N16 MAGAZINE

Mon 5 Mar 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES
Source: PLAN B MAGAZINE

Sun 4 Mar 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES
Source: FREQUENCY ONLINE

Thu 1 Mar 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES
Source: ORGAN MAGAZINE

Fri 2 Feb 2007
LEA VALLEY DELTA BLUES
Source: SUBTER.COM

Mon 29 Jan 2007
'TIME DELAY'
Source: Partly Porpoise ezine

Sun 28 Jan 2007
'TIME DELAY'
Source: indie-mp3.co.uk

Thu 11 Jan 2007
LIVE AT ALTER STATES, December 2006
Source: americana UK

Wed 15 Nov 2006
interview with mark
Source: antivirus review

Wed 15 Mar 2006
interview with mark
Source: essex chronicle

Mon 20 Feb 2006
LIVE AT WHAT'S COOKIN', 1st february 2006
Source: artrocker magazine

Fri 13 Jan 2006
live preview
Source: the gilded palace of sin

Tue 10 Jan 2006
'ISABELLINE' / 'REPLICA' by rob barnett
Source: music-news.com

Wed 14 Dec 2005
DEBUT SINGLE LAUNCH PARTY, 12th november 2005
Source: frequency

Mon 5 Dec 2005
LIVE AT RYAN'S BAR, 25th november 2005
Source: music-news.com

Thu 10 Nov 2005
'ISABELLINE' / 'REPLICA' by Richard Fontenoy
Source: N16 magazine

Wed 10 Aug 2005
LIVE AT THE SPITZ 18th july 2005
Source: spitz website

Mon 25 Jul 2005
LIVE AT THE SPITZ, 18th july 2005 by Lilly Novak
Source: Frequency