Babel

Originally formed in 2005 at the University of Bristol, England, the alternative folk group featured chief songwriter Daniel Coughlan (b. Bristol, England; guitar/vocals) together with Ben Bird (b. Bristol, England; bass), Ben Marks (b. Bristol, England; drums), Martin Lanchester (b. Bristol, England; violin/accordion), Rick Brown (b. Bristol, England; guitar) and Tegan Thomas (b. Bristol, England; cello). Although their approach lacked the country leanings found in Manchester’s Bone Box and London’s Viarosa, the three acts converged around a shared tone of introspective melancholy. Pearl Street Raga, a September 2007 mini-album drawn from the strongest tracks on the self-released EPs The Golden Acre and The Arc, soon earned prominent coverage across discerning music blogs. Released through People Tree, the folk-oriented subsidiary of Acid Jazz Records that also housed west London’s retro-minded jazz-folk outfit Grand Union, the collection spotlighted “Disarm,” whose driving pulse echoed Nilsson’s “Everybody’s Talkin’” while its pastoral shading recalled the Sundays. Coughlan’s measured yet elegantly wasted vocal style anchored the track. Marks left soon afterward, with jazz-trained Daisy Palmer (b. London, England; drums) stepping in; Thomas subsequently became a member of Neil Crossley’s Furlined.