Pool Of Sound - St. Jude The Obscure

After Wirral band 'Bird' legally had to call it a day in 2014 after several successful years, the two remaining members, singer Adéle Emmas and Christian Sandford on guitar and synths, decided on continuing their music. After all Adéle and Christian had a track record of proven success together as 'Bird', the band having released an album, 'My Fear And Me', toured Europe, where they had supported psych-folk legend 'Rodriguez' on five dates in Poland and Belgium in front of 3,000 at Sala Kongresowa concert hall, Warsaw, and the Ancienne Belgique, Brussels. They also had played the Liverpool Music Week, Festival No. 6 and the BBC 6Music Festival, and received critical acclaim from all quarters, in addition to airplay on BBC Radio 1 and 2.

The pair decided to perform initially under the name 'Feral Love', with the addition of a drum machine and samples. They did a few gigs and brought out a single, 'Like The Wind', on Edge Hill University's The Label Recordings. Travelling to Canada in 2016 they played POP Montreal festival as 'Feral Love' but, with people from cat sanctuaries commenting on their Facebook page it never felt right, so the hunt for a new name began. The issue was resolved when Adéle went away on holiday over Christmas 2016, taking with her a copy of Thomas Hardy's classic novel Jude The Obscure. Struck by the romance of the book’s title, combining it with a saintly reference to come up with their new name, electronic art pop two-piece 'St. Jude The Obscure' was formed.

The major change in 2017 saw the welcome release of fresh material. While 'Feral Love' fans had been starved for so long of new songs, there came a series of quick releases to keep them happy. Joined by Grace Goodwin on drums, 'Wreckage' came out on the 24th of February, followed by 'Wonders Of Youth' on the 7th of April, and then 'Ruins' on the 26th of May. To anyone who has seen them perform in Liverpool, the songs are not new, but it is exciting to be able to listen to them on repeat, to dissect them and soak up the atmospheres they invoke. Indeed that is the essence of the band. They craft delicate yet insistent soundscapes that are painted onto your blank canvas as you are whisked off to newly revealed horizons in your imagination. They played the Bido Lito! Social at 81 Renshaw Street on the 17th of August 2017, EGBGS at 82 Seel Street, Liverpool in November and in December an atmospheric gig at the Georgian Quarter's stunning St Bride's Church where they included ex 'Bird' member and guitarist Sian Williams. Having been commissioned by Bido Lito! to create a soundtrack for WWI poet Wilfred Owen’s poem 'Futility', to accompany an opening of his memorial, in 2018 they received support from the media including, BBC Introducing, Radio 1 and BBC 6 Music after their single 'Wings Like Icarus' was released in June 2018. Produced by Darren Jones, who previously worked with Skepta and Ed O’Brien from Radiohead, this is their most recent example of a metaphorical account of individual truth-seeking.

 
In February 2020 Adèle posted on her Facebook page, 'Now available on Spotify and Apple Music.'My Fear and Me' is the work of Adèle Emmas, Sian Williams, Christian Sandford, Alexis Samata and producer Darren Jones'. 2020 has also seen Adèle writing and recording her own music once again under the moniker 'EMMAS', which can be heard in two new tracks, 'Words' and 'Where Did All Our Flowers Go?', showing the fruits of her labour. She has spent the past year as part of 'Lightning Seeds' touring band, but when the COVID-19 pandemic took hold the group saw their touring schedule for the year come to an abrupt halt. 'Where Did All Our Flowers Go?' features Fiona Skelly and Niamh Rowe of 'The Sundowners' as guest vocals, with the pair also a part of 'The Lightning Seeds' setup. In May 2021 Adèle again posted on Facebook;

" 'Mind of Mine' is out now! Very happy to finally have this out in the world – I wrote this song two years ago and have always been torn between releasing the live version I have with the band and the bedroom demo I cooked up in 2019. Safe to say lockdown forced my hand on this one."

see also:- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2020/12/pool-of-sound-samurai-kip.html