Suddenly the evenings are drawing in, the wind lashing out and leaves are dropping from the sky. However, someone up there obviously loves us, because on the day Autumn finally broke, sweet relief arrived on Brighton's shores in the form of the Kingsbury Manx.
The quintet from North Carolinia emerged last September with their eponymous debut album, whose soft focus country-tinged charm proceeded to seep into the subconscious of a lucky few. A year down the line and its follow-up - 'Let You Down' - was released to much acclaim, with many people shoehorning the band into the 'New Acoustic Movement' currently en vogue in the UK. Tonight however, they prove to be far more than simply another name in another scene.
On stage, the band demonstrate a lesson in the art of intricate songcraft, giving the crowd a shot of intimacy missing from many of their peers. Opener 'Fanfare' blossoms the languid mood set by support act Howie Beck into one of hushed reverence, while the three part harmonies cast their introspective tales of love and loss into a new light.
Tracks such as 'The New Evil' and 'Arun' belie 'Let You Down's indications of a rockier slant infiltrating their work, and although there is certainly a more rigid backbone to these newer songs, it is the rounded edges and sedative organ backdrop that make them what they are.
An hour down the line, and the band shake the opiated crowd back to reality with the sting in their tail - the surging 'Blue Eurasions'. Building into a lofty crescendo of My Bloody Valentine-esque proportions, the song breaks into near-white noise for a few bars before dropping down the gears and finally grinding to a halt. A magnificent climax.
You may be expecting this account to close with some half-arsed pun based on the band's current album title. Well you'd be right, for tonight the Kingsbury Manx resolutely failed to let you down.
