AN unsigned “hobby band” have sold out three consecutive gigs follow-ing the release of their debut album in June.
Now Edinburgh’s Wrest are releasing Coward Of Us All on vinyl after sustained demand from fans of the band’s soaring indie-folk epics.
Later this month the four- piece return to Glasgow for a concert supported by Stirling’s Robbie Hutton and local folk rockers These Wooden Bones.
Don’t be tardy getting tickets – they’re about to sell out, says frontman Stewart Douglas.
“To sell-out one show would have been incredible but it looks as if we’ll soon be on four in a row,” says Douglas.
The perfectly pitched songwriter is still buzzing from just having played a solo show to a full house in Lerwick – 350 miles from home.
During his trip north, Douglas was asked to stop by BBC Radio Shetland for a live performance and interview. No wonder folk are keen to chat: the self-funded record refines elements from the likes of The Twilight Sad, We Were Promised Jetpacks and Biffy Clyro for a body of work that’s fully formed.
The execs at Spotify recognised this and gave Wrest a deserved bump by including them on a recent playlist.
And while streaming is convenient for artists and fans alike, when it comes to albums that people genuinely take to their hearts, they want to take them home – on vinyl.
“When it came out we did a run of CDs as that seemed practical but ever since then we’ve been constantly getting messages asking when it’s coming out on vinyl,” says Douglas.
“It’s great to be in a position where people want your music in a different format. We didn’t know what to expect with the album – we still have no expectations, really.
We’re just delighted in how it’s been received so far. The fan reaction has been amazing. We’re not used to that, having been hobby musicians for so long. You don’t really get that level of interaction. But people seem to be really connecting with it. It’s really flattering, especially for someone who has written songs for years that nobody’s really heard.”
Douglas first met guitarist Stephen Whipp, bassist Craig Robertson and drummer Jonny Tait around a decade ago while the four were students at the University of Edinburgh.
While the frontman is originally from Falkirk, three-quarters of Wrest are from Dumfries, with Tait still making the long commute up to Edinburgh.
For years they were happy to play small venues, only marshaling their ambitions when they decided to record an album.
Rather than a scrappy collection of half-formed ideas, Coward Of Us All is the sort of record you’d expect from a band years into a serious career. The album was recorded with Mark Morrow, a Granton-based producer who’s built a solid reputation working with the likes of Mt. Doubt and Indigo Velvet.
Though Wrest had amassed enough material to fill an album, Douglas decided to write entirely new compositions for Coward Of Us All. Many, such as the anthemic Human, find him singing about the need for hope and resilience.
The title echoes “fatigue makes cowards of us all”, a quote attributed to US army general George Patton and football coach Vince Lombardi. The phrase turns up at least twice in the reflective Through A Glass and Hope Springs, another soaring belter.
“We wanted to write something that was thematic from start to finish, where everything linked to something else in various different ways,” says Douglas.
“Even though we had plenty of songs, I wanted to go that next step and come up with songs that were completely new for the album, on the assumption or hope that they would be better than the ones from before. I wanted it to be a work in and of itself, something more than just a collection of songs.”
Themes of striving, of steering a steady course through unpredictable, sometimes choppy waters, are central to the record.
“That’s very much what we’re going for and it ties in with the band name,” says Douglas. “It’s the idea that, if you take life into your own hands, if you get your head around things, things will work out.”
Having their songs connect with a wider audience may have taken years but Wrest’s patience is paying off.
“I think it’s come at the right time for where we’re at as a band, after getting the album out and scheduling everything in,” says Douglas, noting that gigs in Perth and Galashiels will soon be announced. It’s been a long time but it feels like the stars are aligning.”
August 29, Broadcast, Glasgow, 7pm; September 5, Doonhame Festival, Crichton Estate, Dumfries; Sep 13, The Tooth & Claw, Inverness, 8pm, £8; October 26, Glenmavis Tavern, Bathgate. Tickets: www.facebook.com/wearewrest www.wrest.band
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