I recently travelled up to Leigh Sawmill to see Looking For Alaska play a combined concert with Albi & The Wolves and before the gig I was chatting to a friend of mine who had gone up independently and I had asked him why he had not been at the Villainy/Dead Favours gig the night previously to which he responded he had been to see Fables, who was the support act tonight. Bryce is someone whose opinion I value, so this had me intrigued as I had not come across Fables previously yet the bands I had gone to see were well-known, so why choose her over them? Having enjoyed her set I could see why Bryce had such a high opinion of her, so on the way out I grabbed her 2018 CD to see what it was like.

Fables is Jess Bailey (vocals, guitar), and apparently one never knows who she is going to be performing with or what instruments they will be playing as she has a collective mentality, so on the night I saw her she was joined by a just violinist. This EP is a fraction over 20 minutes long with seven songs, and she has brought in multiple musicians to assist so at times we hear clarinet, double bass, cello, mandolin, electric guitars, and violin while I note that one of those involved is Chris Dent from Albi & The Wolves. Not all musicians play on each song or at the same time but having a collective like this means that the music can change quite dramatically from one song to the next, but always underpinned by the melancholic indie folk style of Jess and her acoustic.

There are times when her voice reminds me of Alanis Morissette with that edge which cuts through, and while there are plenty of layers within the accompaniment her vocals are always the dominant force with a slight catch in her voice at times which is really effective. This is a fresh and light EP, and is both inviting and interesting, and anyone into the indie underground style of folk would do well to check this out.

Rating: 7/10

Links:
https://fables.nz/