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Duncan Bellamy drums and electronics
Jack Wyllie saxophones and electronics
Milo Fitzpatrick bass and electronics
Keir Vine hang and keyboards
Portico Quartet still sound like nothing you ever heard before. The Mercury nominated East London based outfit’s unique music has expanded to embrace new sonic territories. Drawing on the inspiration of electronica, ambient, classical and dance music as they take their strange, beautiful, cinematic, future music to exciting new vistas where the inspiration of Burial, Mount Kimbie and Flying Lotus rubs shoulders with the textures of Arve Henriksen and Bon Iver and echoes of Steve Reich and Max Richter. But all underpinned by a shared joy in collective music making as the band push their inimitable music into the future.
Portico Quartet’s third, self-titled, album is released in January 2012 on Real World Records. It is the sound of a band that refuses to stand still as they add new electronic inspiration to their trademark sound. But there are no shortcuts here, the music is played live, not pre-recorded, and the hard won collective empathy that is at the heart of their sound remains their primary touchstone. Full of mystery and drama Portico Quartet still take the listener on an unparalleled journey and live they pack a heavy punch as the band looks defiantly into the future.
“Isla feeds on Steve Reich mathematics, Radiohead dread, African desert grooves and ECM northern melancholy to travel into a new, chiming cavernous sound-world that is both exotic and hypnotic.” MOJO ****
“A melodic accesibility and cinematic scope as liable to woo fans of Radiohead as patrons of Ronnie Scott’s.” Q ****
“genuinely innovative.. there isn’t a band that sounds remotely like them.” Observer Music Monthly****
“Achingly cool... a haunting sound that echoes in your head long after they have stopped playing.” The Sun
“A Joy to listen to, full of depth and detail.” “hauntingly mesmeric soundscapes...” Word Magazine ****