Wembley

To call Wembley “enigmatic” would be both an understatement and an exaggeration. Anyone with a working Internet connection and some free time can find plenty of information on this quartet—their names, who they’ve played with, where they're based (Hillsborough), where they came from (Durham, Raleigh and the aforementioned Hillsborough), their love of obscure musical raconteurs like the Beatles, and so on. You could even find their Bandcamp page, at which you can stream both of the group's EPs. Some sources suggest they've actually released four EPs, as well as a full-length, but as of right now, interested folks will have to satisfy themselves with Keywords For Robots and You Are Invisible. And it’s when you listen to that music that the mystery deepens.

The group themselves classify their music as art rock or indie pop, which are labels that work as well as anything. Wembley have a delicate tenderness and an unconventional way with melody. They’re also not very fond of straight-line chorus-verse work, instead opting to reach their destinations through more scenic routes. They'll cover stumbling piano chords with a thick layer of gently warbling distortion one moment, then clear the air with some shameless rock moves the next. One song will have them working a pedal-steel guitar and crying into their beer like world-weary country troubadours. Another will have them unfurling a gorgeous piano-led melody that’d be the envy of most. All the while, they casually offer surprising turns of phrase—“You're a shipwreck looking for a sea.” Wembley’s not the easiest musical outfit to get a grip on; that doesn't mean it isn't fun to try. —David Raposa