Vena Portae (ft. Emily Barker) + Helen Chambers

Vena Portae are an Anglo-Swedish alt-folk band, comprised of BAFTA award-winning singer songwriter Emily Barker, songwriter and performer Dom Coyote, and Swedish producer and multi-instrumentalist Ruben Engzell.

Vena Portae’s eponymous debut album draws the listener into an epic journey of love, loss, memory and longing. From the heady alt-pop highs of Flames and Fury, and Summer Kills, to the dark, atmospheric depths of Turning Key and Transatlantic, this is an album that is atmospheric, moving and irresistible. The album is due for release on 18 August and features stunning lead single Summer Kills, which is remixed by Swedish indie legend Peter Morén (lead singer of Peter, Bjorn and John). As the band puts it, Summer Kills is 'A song about longing, about a broken past and an uncertain future. A song about regret and vain hopes. A song about love.'

'Vena Portae' means 'vein portal' in Latin; it’s a short vein that carries blood to the liver. The band were inspired by ideas of roads, rivers, veins, portals, creative openings, connections between people, places and life force.

In the winter of 2012, Vena Portae found themselves in the tiny, snowed-in Swedish town of Mölnbo just outside Stockholm. They built a make shift studio, full to the rafters with analogue equipment, spring reverbs, electric guitars, banjos, pianos and an array of weird and wonderful instruments. Over the space of a month, they recorded a treasure trove of songs, inspired by heartbreak, passion, and intrigue, which together make up the album Vena Portae.

Support comes from York’s Helen Chambers, who has previously played for us supporting Laura Stevenson.

Price: £8 adv
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