New Acts: Animali

Animali are a band that go beyond most indie rock acts into the territory usually reserved for progressive rock, but manage to do so without meandering too far into the twilight zone.

True, their music would not sound out of place on a 21st century prog compilation and they make references to the likes of Pink Floyd and the Grateful Dead on their Facebook page, but they wisely avoid trying to recreate the sounds of the 70s underground too faithfully.

They have the same experimental spirit and musical ability of their prog forefathers, but their music is refreshingly 21st century.

I was fortunate enough to catch Animal live while in Rennes last month during the Bars en Trans event, and they're as impressive a live band as I might have hoped.

 I wrote shortly after the show that they showed " hidden depth of musicianship wrapped in approachable and crafted songs", an opinion that I maintain having listened to more of their recorded material since.

The five piece from Lyon have released one EP - the memorably titled "The spark and three other poorly-produced pieces of music"  - and a single so far.

They've made their new single Hysterical Star available as a free download on their website so you can find out more for yourself.