Kyte (band)

Kyte
Kyte at the Latitude Festival in 2008
Kyte at the Latitude Festival in 2008
Background information
OriginLeicestershire, England
GenresRock, electronic, Chillwave, Shoegaze, Dream pop, post-rock Ambient pop
Years active2007-present
LabelsKids (UK), Erased Tapes (EU), Hostess (JP)
MembersNick Moon
Tom Lowe
Scott Hislop

Kyte are an electronic indie pop group, from Leicestershire, England.

Kyte comprise Nick Moon (vocals), Tom Lowe (guitars and keyboards), Scott Hislop (drums and percussion).[1] Their earlier musical output was often labelled shoegazing (or neo-shoegazing) and post rock but they have since moved into a more electro and pop influenced sound.[1][2][3] Their debut single, "Planet," was released in 2007 on Sonic Cathedral Recordings, the b-side of which, "Boundaries," was used in a trailer for the television series The Sopranos.[4][failed verification] Their debut album was released in 2008 on Kids Records (UK) / Erased Tapes Records (EU) to generally positive reviews.[1][3][5][6][7][8][9] In April 2009 they released their second full-length release Science For The Living in Japan. The two disc Japan release featured tracks taken from their 2008 Two Sparks, Two Stars EP, with the remaining tracks being new material. The bonus disc included a remix from The Joy Formidable of the opening track on Disc 1, "Eyes Lose Their Fire."

The band have toured extensively throughout Europe and Asia as well as appearing at many festivals including the 10th Anniversary Summer Sonic Festival in Japan.

During April 2012 the band travelled to Seattle to work with producer John Goodmanson (Nada Surf, Blonde Redhead, Los Campesinos) at the Robert Lang Studios.[10] Their newest album, titled Love To Be Lost, was released in 2012.

Dead Waves

[edit]
Dead Waves
Studio album by
Kyte
Released19 April 2010
GenreIndie pop, electronic, indie rock
Length59:06
LabelKids
ProducerDuncan "Pixie" Mills, Tom Lowe, "Dr" Dave Fawbert
Kyte chronology
Science for the Living
(2009)
''Dead Waves''
(2010)
Love To Be Lost
(2012)

Dead Waves was released in Japan on 7 April[11] 2010 and in the UK shortly after on, 19 April.[12] The band finished deciding which songs would appear on the album in the first week of December 2009.[13] The mixing of the album was also finished during this period. To celebrate the launch of the album in the UK, a free launch party was held at the Old Blue Last music venue in London on the day of release.[12] The supporting acts were The Strange Death of Liberal England and Rival Consoles, as well as a live DJ set from Maps.[14]

Although it is the second full-length release in the band's discography (excluding the self-titled mini-album), Dead Waves was the first full-length release to be made available outside of Asia and was promoted as the band's "first proper long-player" by their UK based label Kids Records.[15] Several of the songs on the album are new versions of songs that appeared on the band's previous release, Science For The Living.

Critical reaction

[edit]

The album received a 7/10 from the British journalism magazine NME.[16] MusicOMH rated it 3/5 finding little development from previous release the Two Sparks, Two Stars EP.[17]

Alter The Press! gave the release a favourable 4.5 out of 5 stars, stating that "its consistency, flowness and craftsmanship is something to be admired."[18]

Remix competition

[edit]

In conjunction with the release of Dead Waves, a remix competition was held by the band for their track Ihnfsa.[19] The competition was announced on the band's official MySpace blog on 16 February 2010, the closing date being the 26th of the same month.

Three download links were provided, which were hosted on the Kids Records website and contained the files needed to begin remixing the track. The winning entry was submitted by FILMLOOP[20][21] and was featured on the IHNFSA EP, which was released as a digital download via iTunes on 19 April 2010.[22] A number of promotional CDr copies were also produced.[23]

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleLength
1."The Smoke Saves Lives"4:05
2."Ihnfsa"3:44
3."You're Alone Tonight"3:45
4."Designed for Damage"4:16
5."Like She Said"4:31
6."Fear from Death"4:35
7."Each Life Critical"7:41
8."No-One is Angry, Just Afraid"4:42
9."The Guns and the Knives"3:38
10."Fake Handshakes, Earnest Smiles"5:50
11."Dead Waves"7:37
12."The Strangest Words and Pictures"4:42
Total length:59:06
Bonus Tracks (Japanese Edition)
No.TitleLength
13."I'll Follow Dreams for You"4:57
14."Spoilt to Death"4:46
15."Staging the World"3:55
16."Cassette Culture"4:24
Total length:1:17:08

Discography

[edit]

Albums

[edit]

EPs

[edit]
  • Switch Motion to the Sky (2006)
  • Two Sparks, Two Stars (2008)
  • Japan Tour EP (2008)
  • Designed for Damage (2010)
  • IHNFSA (2010)

Singles

[edit]
  • Planet (2007)
  • Boundaries (2008)
  • Friend of a Friend (2012)
  • Taipei (All At Once) (2013)

Compilations

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Gourlay, Dom (2008) "DiScover: Kyte Archived 8 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine", Drowned in Sound
  2. ^ Lynskey, Dorian (2008) "Kyte review", The Guardian, 15 February 2008
  3. ^ a b Maher, John (2008) "Kyte: Kyte (review) Archived 11 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine", In The News, 14 February 2008
  4. ^ Baggs, Michael (2007) "High as a Kyte / let's go fly a Kyte et-cetera...", Channel 4 Music Blogs, 17 August 2007 Archived 8 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Trussler, Meryl (2008) "Kyte - Kyte", This Is Fake DIY, 4 February 2008
  6. ^ Harper, Jamie (2008) "Kyte - Kyte", MusicOMH, 18 February 2008
  7. ^ Reid, Angus (2008) "Kyte - Kyte Archived 8 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine", God Is In The TV, 25 January 2008
  8. ^ "Latitude adds Kyte, Elle S'appelle, and more for Lake Stage Archived 20 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine", eFestivals
  9. ^ "AustralianCoupons4u.com - Coupon codes and savings deals for stores in Australia". Australiancoupons4u.com.
  10. ^ Nikki Benson (2012) "SSG Music Premiere: UK Band Kyte Shares New Recording at Seattle’s Robert Lang Studios Archived 8 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine"
  11. ^ "Dead Waves : Japanese Edition, 4 Bonus Track : White Noise Records". 23 April 2017. Archived from the original on 23 April 2017.
  12. ^ a b "KIDS Records - We Are Down with the Kids". 23 August 2010. Archived from the original on 23 August 2010.
  13. ^ "Kyte: December 2009". 23 April 2017. Archived from the original on 23 April 2017.
  14. ^ "Maps". 9 March 2012. Archived from the original on 9 March 2012.
  15. ^ "Untitled Document". Archived from the original on 13 January 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  16. ^ "Kyte - Dead Waves (review)". NME. 16 April 2010. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  17. ^ Shepherd, Sam (19 April 2010). "Kyte – Dead Waves (review)". MusicOMH. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  18. ^ Reid, Sean. "Album Review: Kyte - Dead Waves".
  19. ^ "Kyte | blog on Myspace". 3 January 2012. Archived from the original on 3 January 2012.
  20. ^ "Untitled Document". Archived from the original on 13 January 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  21. ^ "FILMLOOM | Listen and Stream Free Music, Albums, New Releases, Photos, Videos". Myspace.
  22. ^ "Release date for the IHNFSA EP". iTunes. 19 April 2010.
  23. ^ "Kyte - IHNFSA". Discogs. 2 October 2023.
[edit]