The Eternal Mystery of the Human Heart

Lily

London by Lamplight

The Rest is Silence

The City of Dreadful Night

Vasilisa: The Girl Who Lived in the Dark

One Dry Eye in the House of God

In The Shadows Of Better Men

Petrushka

The Devil's Favourite Love Story

In The Shadows Of Better Men (single edit)

THE PLAYERS
DAN SHEARS: Voice, Guitars, and Mandolin
LINDSEY OLIVER: Double Bass, Voice
MEGAN AFFONSO: 'Cello, Voice
SARAH BOUGHTON: Violin
ALAN DUNN: Piano and Accordion
NICK VAN VLAENDEREN: Drums & Voice

LYRICS for DRESSED UP IN SABLES
Dressed up in sables with a shark-toothed smile
And a swirling hessian of flies
He looks upon me from the crest of Bleak Hill
Rapt in my demise
He has a raven on one shoulder and a bluebird on the other
A craved lust for power and a need to be loved
Just a little touch of hell
Is what this boondock town needs
A splintered kiss to summon up the blood
A crooked posture held by spindle limbs
Uncoils and points towards me
A click of his fingers and sky bleeds red
O’er burning fields
From the ground black flowers blossom and make a blanket o’er my hills
From the sky come shards of heaven and the reign o’er me
Just a little touch of hell
Is what this still lake town needs
An elegant waltz with darkness is the thing
Just a little touch of hell
Is what this dead dog town needs
A sloe-thorn beset halo is what I need

Dressed Up in Sables (single version)

The Velveteen Orkestra are a ragged-trousered rock and roll orchestra conceived in a leaky, shadow-veiled district of South London. Bellowing out from underneath the grey brutalist tower blocks named in honour of romantic poets is a sound that is both savage, yet elegant… animal, yet noble… honest, yet fantastical.

The band’s debut album (Shadow & Whimsy) was three-years in the making and came after a studio fire had ravaged their entire work to date, leaving them with nothing. Their pulsating live shows are attracting audiences for their rich romanticism and brooding intensity, as well as their sparkling sense of humour. Lead Singer/Guitarist Dan Shears emits a gilt-edged voice from a spindle-limbed frame, evoking memories of Jeff Buckley at his heart-aching best. The vocal intertwining created by he, Megan Affonso (‘Cello & Voice) and Lindsey Oliver (Double-Bass & Voice) is the glimmering crest of a surging tidal wave of carnivalesque opulence coupled with post-punk venom and snarl. Sarah Boughton’s (Violin) often piercing top lines summon up the blood from a gypsy’s curse and Alan Dunn’s touch on the piano has all the passion and drama of a tragic Shakespearean romance. Nick Van Vlaenderen’s percussive anchorage forms the skeleton upon which the others dress the flesh. The sum of these parts is an intoxicating brand of melancholic alternative rock with nodding acquaintances towards rockabilly and folk noir.

The Velveteen Orkestra

Popular tracks