Ralfe Band

Folklore Sessions Presents
Ralfe Band + Support
October 25th | £13adv
The Folklore Rooms
18+

We are delighted to announce Ralfe Band’s first Brighton show for over 10 years. In support of the new album Achilles Was a Hound Dog, Ralfe Band will be taking to the stage at The Folklore Rooms on Friday 25^th October 2024. 

Ralfe Band’s fourth studio album, Achilles Was a Hound Dog, is a masterclass of songcraft that has gathered praise from Record Collector (‘Triumphant return. Punchy, finely crafted tunes’ ★★★★), Uncut (‘Dreamily cinematic songs’) and Mark Radcliffe (‘A terrific new album from Ralfe Band. I love this album’).

In support of the new album, Ralfe Band recently returned to BBC Radio 6 Music for a live session with Riley and Coe, and were invited by Gaz Coombes to join him on tours of Europe and the UK.

Ralfe Band’s Brighton connections go back to their debut album, when the band was signed to Skint by the Midfield General himself, Damian Harris. This resulted in the highly acclaimed album Swords in 2005. Studio albums that followed were Attic Thieves and Son Be Wise, plus a score and soundtrack for the feature film Bunny and the Bull (Warp Films/Film 4), directed by Paul King (Paddington).

Back to the latest record, Achilles Was a Hound Dog has been released worldwide on the renowned French label Talitres and was mostly recorded in Oxford and London. Joining Oly Ralfe on the album are regular Ralfe Band musicians Emma Faulkner on vocals and guitar, Garo Nahoulakian on guitar and bass, Nick Fowler on bass and guitar, and Mike Monaghan on drums. Friends of Oly’s appear as special guests too, including drummer Seb Rochford (Polar Bear, Damon Albarn), double-bassist Ben Nicholls (Nadine Shah), cellist Gabriella Swallow (Richard Hawley), bassist Harry Deacon (Palace) and drummer Rob Ellis (PJ Harvey).

It’s been ten years since Ralfe Band’s last long player, Son Be Wise, punctuated by the rowdy one-off single ‘Sweating It Out’. Meanwhile, the last few years have seen Oly Ralfe branch out musically, with his acclaimed solo instrumental record Notes From Another Sea from 2018, a collection of plaintive and intimate piano compositions, as well as the Live at St Pancras Old Church album from 2020, featuring Ralfe’s solo piano with classical ensemble.

The ten songs and two instrumentals that make up Achilles Was a Hound Dog offer us a glimpse into Oly’s world, with enticing sojourns into the surreal. The most musically diverse Ralfe Band album to date, baroque pop, indie noir, new wave and wonky jazz coalesce within a landscape of charming cohesion, a stunning musical mélange that’s complemented by the striking, abstract album cover, painted by Oly himself.