Griff says; 'All hands on deck! It's Rum Tum Tiddles'

Yaaar! Listen up ye scurvy dogs, Cap'n Griff has some good news for you. I received a nice e-mail containing some good news from the lovely Madeleine (pictured) of 'Rum Tum Tiddles' this week. If that band name doesn't ring any bells as yet then sit back, relax and prepare to be educated and enthralled. Rum Tum Tiddles are a band made up of Thomas Bevand, Madeleine Mosse and Fred Lambert. They are based in Nantes, France, although Madeleine, their singer, is English. Thomas and Madeleine met in the Balkans where they shared a very cold flat which experienced frequent shortages in electricity. This led to many candle-lit singing sessions, where Tom would play his guitar and Madeleine would sing covers (often of the gloomy folk variety). When they found themselves in France they began to play and sing with other people; leading to a very happy union with mandolin maestro Fred.

Calling themselves 'Rum Tum Tidles', the trio began to forge an amiable, acoustic, indie-folk sound, which can veer refreshingly from silly to poignant in the space of one song without ever compromising the quality of the song-writing. I first came across them a couple of years ago and since then have kept a close eye on them as a band definitely destined for bigger and better things. It appears my intuition was correct, as Madeleine's e-mail reveals:

"I have just posted news on myspace to say that our record will be out in the next few months (probably September.) It is called 'We Could Be Pirates' and will be released by Waterhouse Records in France. There will also be a new website with some free music to download and also to stream - coming very soon. We'll keep people posted about that through our myspace page."

I'm pleased to say that many of the songs from the band's first two albums, self-released on their own 'pirates' label, are already available as free downloads on their last.fm page. If you are still wondering what top-notch, cross-channel, indie-folk, pop jauntiness sounds like, then wonder no more. We here at 'The Streetlamp' have the following videos ready for your enjoyment:

'We Could Be Pirates' from 'Seven Hands'

'Are We Past' from 'Sad and Silly Songs'

and finally, as a little bonus, this claptastic version of 'It's Too Late'.

We hope you enjoyed that and we hope too that you'll support the band by visiting their site, going to see them play live and buying the new album when it comes out.

Griff

xx