The debut album by Melbourne’s Wintercoats is set for release in 2016. In the meantime, there are very limited quantities of the Sketches 12″ vinyl remaining on mail order. For iTunes, click on the link below.

Wintercoats – Working on a Dream from Cascine on Vimeo.

A master of ethereal delicacies, Melbourne’s Wintercoats aka James Wallace combines his chameleonic compositional talents and profound arrangement dexterity to create aural artworks of fragility and grandeur.

Wallace’s work is rich in symbolism; narrations of unwanted and uncontrollable realities, but ideologically hopeful, optimistic and confident, seamlessly weaving violin, glockenspiel, piano and a plethora of other instruments into a glorious yet unmistakably poignant artistic vision, fortified by haunting and cavernous vocals.

His debut self-released EP Cathedral adventured through sweeping and idyllic vocal harmonies underpinned by brash and heavily reverbed string loops. A search of his rawest emotions; through the endurance of despair, Cathedral was the idealization of tension and tranquillity, a release of inhibitions and a philosophical exploration of love, lust and social complacency.

Sketches takes Wintercoats’ vision to new heights, combining the natural sounds of a white-washed shoreline with plucked strings, boyish vocals and lifting, moving dynamics.

Truly one of Melbourne’s most talented and promising solo musicians, already widely celebrated within the underground community and having supported the likes of Beach House, Tune-yards, Sarah Blasko, MONO, How To Dress Well, Julianna Barwick, Mirah, Cass McCombs and Xiu Xiu, we expect further immense feats and achievements from one of our most humble, gifted and opulent prospects.

PRAISE FOR WINTERCOATS:

• “Reflecting the prominence of both loop-driven contours and vocal-less passages of soundtrack-y beauty, it neatly encapsulates what manages to sound like an entire universe over just six songs. And yet there’s nothing unfinished about Wallace’s work. An eerie merger of classical flutters of piano and violin with shoegaze-worthy soundscapes, it feels complete and immersive” – THE MUSIC
• “Melbourne-based ambient, post-rocker Wintercoats (aka James Wallace) makes intensely physical music. Not in the sense that you can dance to it (dancing to it is pretty much impossible unless you’re doing a Kate Bush-style interpretive dance). It’s physical in the sense that if you clamp on some decent headphones and listen to his new EP Sketches with your eyes closed you feel as if you’re standing on a cliff with the wind in your face thinking profound thoughts about love (while wearing a fantastic winter coat of course).” – THE THOUSANDS
• “Nothing short of incredible… mixes intricate orchestral arrangements with a pop sensibility” – SYN-FM FEATURE ALBUM
• “Armed primarily with a singular violin, Wintercoats utilises loops and pitch shifting pedals to generate aural magic… Sketches looks set to propel Wintercoats from the rank of unassuming and underappreciated bedroom project to one of the brightest shining forces in contemporary Australian music.” – BEAT