William The Conqueror could be the most underrated band in Britain right now. They could be, except that anyone who’s actually listened to their albums or seen them live is quite likely – rightly – to rave about how brilliant the band is.
Their music blends the swampiest of vintage English blues rock with the slacker cool of grunge, hints of acerbic punkish wit and the harmonic sensibilities of jazz; think F. Scott Fitzgerald fronting The Rolling Stones as a three-piece garage band in San Diego. But that doesn’t come close. Their following has been growing steadily year on year and the highest praise ensues wherever they go, be it Spain, Ireland, Germany, Sweden or many, many times around the UK. They’re not underrated in the slightest, they’re just not that widely known.
In support of their latest album, Excuse Me While I Vanish, the band are onto their second round of UK touring since late July and find themselves back in Scotland almost a year to the day since their last appearance north of the border, this time packing out Edinburgh’s most welcoming grassroots venue, Sneaky Pete’s. The room may be modest in its capacity but the attentiveness and generosity of the audience and the calibre of performances on the night combine to produce the kind of atmosphere that theatre or arena shows rarely ever deliver.
Opening for this tour is English singer-songwriter Chloe Foy. A friend of the band and an immense musical talent, she holds her own against an occasionally excitable Tuesday night crowd with her precisely mesmeric fingerpicking, beguiling melodies and graceful stage presence. Her too-brief set of songs, taken mostly from her 2021 debut album Where Shall We Begin includes the highlights Evangeline and Bones as well as new music that sounds at once familiar and fresh, as the best songs often do. Although perhaps not the most obvious choice of support, Foy proves to be the perfect aperitif on this occasion.
There is no fanfare as William The Conqueror make their way onto the stage. The unassuming trio of Ruarri Joseph, Naomi Holmes and Harry Harding collectively exudes an effortless charisma; an authentic cool that is either relatable or aspirational but either way is undeniable and inherently theirs. From the outset they have the audience hanging on every riff, invested in each lyric like it’s the next compelling episode of a true crime podcast. On guitar and vocals Joseph delivers both matter-of-factly. His vivid prose-like narration gives form and colour to characterful vignettes with just enough ambiguity so as he can string together first and third person perspectives regularly without giving away his own identity. The first lines of Bleeding On The Soundtrack surely rival You’re So Vain as some of the greatest opening lyrics in the history of popular music but then the whole song is so relentlessly wry and incisive, it’s impossible to not be drawn in, even consumed by it.
The first few songs build on an ambling swagger. A smoke machine and bright overhead lighting keep the band separated by a dense, dreamy fog before The Puppet And The Puppeteer finds them in a temporary clearing and pushing the tempo. The interplay of guitar and vocals seamlessly winds up the tension throughout this song so that when the extended instrumental section arrives it’s a welcome reprieve. This technique is engineered into most of William The Conqueror’s “jammier” numbers but is so effectively executed that it typically goes uncredited.
Similarly subtle, the laidback vibe of Sunny Is The Style is largely the result of Harding’s almost reluctant drumming. Much of his playing here is unadorned, and so when he gently strikes the bell of his ride cymbal it adds an immediate sparkle that lifts the whole tone of the song. On Somebody Else he is so solid, delivering the kind of consistent and dependable drumming that renders it somewhat invisible, indistinguishable, even taken for granted and yet it is such a vital, intrinsic layer of the song.
Apart from the Beatlesque Elsie Friend the band always sounds uniquely themselves, due in part to Joseph’s distinctive voice and delivery, however what they prove on song after song – and what stands them in such high regard from a critical perspective – is that they are a greater sonic collective than their three members. A perfect example of this is Thank Me Later. It features arguably the best of Holmes’ melodic bassline grooves playing off the lagging rhythm of Joseph’s guitar, backed up as usual by Harding’s casually understated beat. On record it’s a fun song but when translated live it takes on a life all of its own, demonstrating the essential collaborative nature of this project through such intuitive playing. Ask the musicians in the room and they’ll tell you; when a band sounds this loose they’re actually really tight. They back this up with Wake Up where again you can hear each element but it’s all as smooth and fluid as mercury.
Despite playing half the new album and similar-sized portions of the previous two albums the set closes with little warning on the semi-epic jazz shuffler Jesus Died A Young Man. Trapped on stage before an insatiable crowd of fanatics, the band concedes an encore. A request to dedicate the final song is obliged with the caveat that the recipient should not think about what it’s about, Looking For The Cure being an upbeat ode to alcohol and/or sobriety.
It’s another successful night for William The Conqueror; another great show delivered and well received, a handful of records and t-shirts sold with positive exchanges at the merch table, a smattering of photos and videos posted on social media to perpetuate the word-of-mouth cycle. Another night of William The Conqueror not being underrated and maybe even a little more widely known.
Words and pictures: Kendall Wilson @softcrowdclassic