September West

September West is a band from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada that layers female voices on top of traditional instrumentation to create a mix of indie pop, country, and folk music which they hope will appeal to you.

Once there was a band called Paper Moon (still is, in fact). After the release of their most recent album, some of the members took some time out to make all kinds of babies. After a couple of years, they decided to make music again with an expanded line-up consisting of everyone who had been a part of Paper Moon over the last several years. They found, however, that the music they were creating was a little bit different from the energetic pop they were used to. Blame the passing of time or blame babies (it's so easy to blame babies for EVERYTHING), but it seemed the band was entering a more mellow, organic phase. Rather than try to adapt the songs to a more Moon-y style, the decision was made to create a new entity to house them.

The result was September West.

Sung by Allison Shevernoha, Leslie Oldham, and Nikki Taylor, and accompanied by Chris Hiebert, John Wilson, Ken Phillips, and Rob Rodgers, the lyrics convey familiar themes of love, loss, and the human experience. You'll find the usual assortment of guitars, keyboards, and drums mingling with the likes of mandolins, ukuleles, fifes, and improvised percussion. Some songs will settle you pleasantly deeper into your comfortable chair-and-a-half while others will pull you up and swing you around the room. Either way, you'll have a smile on your face.

Although September West is still very young, The Rock Club UK has proclaimed that they are a band to look out for in 2013 and called their first single, "Only For You", a "pure delight" (therockclubuk.com). Hopefully you will agree.