I think it was the overly clever arty cover that started to ring the warning bells (of 1 2) and Mojo’s line, “Sparklehorse and Mazzy Star fans are in for a treat”. Five stars nonetheless so what is it all about?

The album version is “performed, wr and produced by Sol Seppy” (aka Sophie Michalitsianos). The singer is currently in New York but she’s well travelled and has found German label, Grönland Records to release her brand of electronic experimental folk-pop.

Michalitsianos has a breathy vocal style and the music is a strange range of classical inspired folktronica pop. It’s like a stripped down Sigur Rós in English.

It works best where each track gradually builds and develops, never quite exploding but just stopping on the edge like the painful ‘Human’ and eighties electro-popish ‘Come Running’. However, there are some deep dark shades to this album along with the gentle folkiness (see ‘Move’). Commercially, the Tunng-like ‘Farewell Your Heart’ and particularly ‘Wonderland’ would be the ones to highlight (there’s a good video to ‘Wonderland’, see links below).

Once I was hooked on the album, I wondered how she performs this live. Down at Portsmouth’s Wedgewood Rooms (supporting Teddy Thompson) the band was made up of Vikki and two other blokes who continually swapped various guitars/keyboards.

Michalitsianos has lost the blonde hair of the album cover but retains that little girl lost vulnerability. Her jumper, with a silhouette pigeon pattern on it, covered a T-shirt with cat silhouette print. Either a reflection of some impending animal clothing conflict or some fashion accident. The crowd looked a bit lost and confused by it all, aided by her somewhat hard-to-place accent when she was introducing the songs. No surprise on the accent as she’s London born and grew up between here and Australia “with bits of Greece and other parts of Europe scattered about”.

‘Come Running’ and ‘Injoy’ are not the best on the album but the live version of ‘Slo Fuzz’ really came to life. We’re told that this was Vikki’s first time on bass (up until then she’ll was on cello which is a bit of a trend, see Gum Drop).

She did ‘Injoy’ solo on the Yamaha Clavinova to a ‘rainfall’ backing, a touch new age relaxation tape. It’s better on the album as it’s one of the more intense tracks. Every student bedsit should have a version on their communal stereo, err Ipod (along with ‘Slo Fuzz’).

She ended with the last track on the album, ‘Enter one’ introducing it as, “a special one”. It’s one of those big emotional tunes of love that mixes ambient classical with Radiohead pop. Even though she left the stage with a big smile and the crowd were polite and respectful, you got the feeling that the Teddy Thompson fans were as bemused at the end as at the start.

But for roadworks on the M3, I’d have seen the whole set but well done to Grönland Records for getting Ms. Michalitsianos out of her home recording studio. Guaranteed, this won’t be the last we’ll be hearing from Sol Seppy.

Teddy Thompson / Sol Seppy on Tour
13 May Dublin, Whelans
14 May Belfast, Limelight

Reviewed: Sol Seppy - The Bells Of 1 2 (Grönland Records) Cat. No. CDGRON30 Release date: Mar 2006
Credits: Produced, written, mixed and performed by Sol Seppy
Tracklisting:
1. 1 2 (3:58)
2. Human (4:28)
3. Come Running (3:27)
4. Move (3:25)
5. Gold (2:22)
6. Injoy (4:30)
7. Slo Fuzz (6:25)
8. Loves Boy (3:46)
9. Farewell Your Heart (2:51)
10. Answer To The Name Of (3:54)
11. Wonderland (3:33)
12. Enter One (6:15)

Link
www.solseppy.com
www.myspace.com/solseppy
93 Feet East, 4 May 2006 Sol Seppy download at www.dontpanicmedia.com
Grönland Records www.gronland.co.uk
www.sigur-ros.com