Anna Dennis: vocals, acoustic guitar
Martin Williams: sampler, drums, guitar, vocals
Steve Moody: bass
Alan Deacon: keyboards
Paul Treby: guitar
Location: "We exist in Cheltenham, England; though we live our lives in our warped imaginations."
Many bands - desperate to give the impression that someone somewhere gives a shit about them - claim to be a hit on the Internet. Silverman have been there and done that. Having charted high and consistently at MP3.com, ClickMusic and Besonic, they also won an audience poll by US portal Streamsearch, being flown to Los Angeles for the award ceremony, then appearing as guests-of-honour at the after-show party at Hugh Hefner's Playboy mansion. With the party sponsored by Viagra, says Silverman's co-founder Martin Williams, "we weren't short of somewhere to hang our coats."
Silverman are two - Martin and singer Anna Dennis - with a touring complement of a further three. Anna has no history in bands. She has, though, spent lonely years writing and trashing songs, finding her own voice. Martin's story is different. As drummer, co-songwriter and acting manager of Nilon Bombers, he has suffered the toilet-tours, and was once named Pick Of The Week in Melody Maker.
When the Bombers split, "savaged by time, stress and fatigue," Martin went looking for a singer and, pointed in her direction by "a completely inappropriate rock guy," discovered Anna in an acoustic club. Initial demos were a joy. Previously compromised by the band situation and stifled as a songwriter, Martin was drunk on liberty. Absolutely inexperienced, Anna had no idea what a boundary was. She introduced him to Tori Amos, Ani DiFranco and Heather Nova, he drew her into Mogwai, Sparklehorse and Arab Strap, "stuff that gives you somewhere to explore, where not everything is at the surface."
As the short-sighted industry infatuation with manufactured pop drove listeners into the arms of David Gray, Coldplay, Turin Brakes and Starsailor, so Silverman benefited too. Their wares sold well in cyberspace, so well that time constraints eventually forced them down the more traditional route. Their new album, Speed Of Life Part 2, will - shock, horror - be available in shops. Speed Of Life Part 1, a compilation of all their Internet hits, may have already passed you by.
So, SOL Part 2 is not strictly speaking a debut and - complex, refined and mature - it doesn't sound like one. Caustic, cruel duet Ctrl Alt Del will remind you of Gainsbourg and Birkin, or Cave and Kylie, with music courtesy of, perhaps, Massive Attack. "Can I have my heart back, please?" has you thinking of a tormented Cocteau Twins, with a broken Anna's sad request buried beneath a wave of brutal electro-noise.Themes include sex, death and lingering pain, though the sex is (tellingly?) not gender-specific.
These are "proper" songs, superbly written, beautifully performed and backed with cultured and soulful soundscapes that place Silverman alongside such contemporary greats as Low, Portishead and Sneaker Pimps. Listen and understand.
Read more...