NEW ALBUM FROM EUROPEAN ACOUSTIC POP MAESTROS THE PORTRAITS!

At last, the acclaimed first album from Anglo-Irish songwriters The Portraits will see its official CD release.

Already a top online seller since it came out as a digital download at the end of 2006, and modestly described by one notable French radio producer as “The dawn of a new Beautiful South”, pressure has mounted on the band’s own label, Sensory Pulse Records, to release “Kin”, an eclectic collection of 11 folk-pop soundscapes with beautiful layered vocals, in a hard copy format.

It is surely the Anglo-Irish pop sensibility that has caught the ears of so many. The tongue-in-cheek fusion of downbeat lyrical subject matter  bereavement, loneliness, despair  and upbeat musical content  jazzy melodies, sweet Celtic harmonies and 60s Britpop backings  catches the listener unawares. The marriage of these incongruous elements makes more sense when y ou realise it reflects the make-up of the The Portraits’ themselves. The band is a European Union ménage à trois: Irish songstress, English pianist, French backdrop.

Long before The Portraits’ conception, duo Lorraine Reilly and Jeremy Millington cut a successful niche for themselves in the Bristol music scene of the 1990s. Lorraine was the youngest exponent of a celebrated Galway folk clan, and legend has it that under the watchful gaze of her musician grandfather Michael (a homage to whom appears on “Kin” in the song that takes his name) she could hum a melody note perfect before she could crawl. Meanwhile, across the Irish sea and the not inconsiderable political divide of the early 1980s, Bristolian Jeremy was thrashing his way through his classical piano grades, inspired by the bluesy discords he created when stumbling through Bach and Schumann. It was not until the mid-1990s, when Lorraine had finished art college and Jeremy a music degree, that the two collided as young teachers and their inimitable songwriting bond took shape.

Fast forward several years through major label propositions, a period of musical itinerancy and writers’ block and the most unlikely of sources of inspiration: the sudden death of Jeremy’s father from Leukaemia. “Having found I found I hated everything I created,” confesses Jeremy, “suddenly I had something desperately important to tell the world.” And so began 18 months’ work on “Kin” at the band’s French home studio, culminating in a Dublin mastering session by Aidan Foley, responsible for the output of U2, Norah Jones, Damien Rice and Sinead O’Connor, amongst many others, and an explosion of online interest.

What next then for The Portraits? “At this stage,” proffers Jeremy, “all I want is for as many people to hear us as possible. I just want to know that people enjoy what we do. It’s about a lasting appreciation and respect for what we have to say. I’m happy to die poor, as long as I die happy that what I’d produced was liked.”

No time now for talk of departing this mortal coil, though: with plans afoot for a tour of Europe in 2008 coinciding with the release of a download-only single with all the proceeds going to Leukaemia charities, the band have plenty to keep them busy. 2008 is sure to be a vibrant and colourful year for The Portraits.

Contact the band at: THE PORTRAITS, Little Well Studios, 1 avenue du Val de Loire, 17140 Lagord, France Tel/fax +33 (0) 5 46 35 64 80 email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

“KIN” FULL TRACK LIST AND TIMES

1. PIE IN THE SKY (3.24)
2. HARRY EDWARDS (3.47)
3. COGS AND WHEELS (4.24)
4. BANGKOK (4.14)
5. AUGUST TEAR (4.45)
6. DEAR SARAH (5.11)
7. SMARTIES TUBE (5.15)
8. MICHAEL (4.31)
9. FORTUNE (3.41)
10. DEEP PEACE (5.00)
11. HEAR (4.14)

CHECK OUT THESE TRACKS!

2. HARRY EDWARDS (3.47)
4. BANGKOK (4.14)
8. MICHAEL (4.31)
9. FORTUNE (3.41)

REACTIONS

“& masterful& flowing melodies, heavenly harmonies, and memorable lyrics! Fans of Ben Folds, Crosby, Stills & Nash, and the Beach Boys will find themselves begging for more!” Xavier P. and RadioIndy.com

“The Portraits have a very slick and smooth sound that I’ve been finding personally very addictive.& before you know it, you’ve become so completely engrossed in them.” http://itsnotthebandihateitstheirfans.blogspot.com

“Man, I really LIKE this vibe! I think you've done an amazing job and I like it.” Craig Olson, Seattle Music Producer

www.theportraits.info
www.myspace.com/theportraitseurope
cdbaby.com/cd/portraits
www.last.fm/music/THE+PORTRAITS

CD on sale at: Amazon, Ebay, CD Baby and in stores