* ''For the tale see ''

Esben and the Witch Esben and the Witch (Danish language: ''Esben og Troldheksen'') is a Danish fairy tale first collected by Jens Kamp.Kamp, Jens. ''Danske Folkeminder, æventyr, Folkesagn, Gaader, Rim Og Folketro''. Odense: R. Nielsen, 1877. pp. 93-102. Andrew La ...

''.'' Esben and the Witch are a British three piece

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band formed in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

in 2008. consisting of Rachel Davies (vocals, bass), Thomas Fisher (guitar), and Daniel Copeman (drums, electronics - formerly guitar).Lester, Paul (2009)
New band of the day: Esben and the Witch (No 635)
, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 25 September 2009. Retrieved 24 March 2013Meighan, Nicola (2010)
Exposure: Esben and the Witch
, '' The List'', 29 April 2010. Retrieved 24 March 2013 Their name comes from the Danish fairytale, "

".Ones To Watch 2010: Esben And The Witch
, '' Clash'', 21 January 2010. Retrieved 24 March 2013 After a self-released '' 33 EP'' in 2009 and a limited seven-inch single "Lucia, at the Precipice" in February 2010, the band signed with

Matador Records Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of mainly indie rock, but also punk rock, experimental rock, alternative rock, and electronic acts. History Matador was created in 1989 by Chris Lombardi in his New York City apart ...

. The band's debut

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

for the label, "Marching Song", was released in October 2010, followed by their debut album ''

Violet Cries ''Violet Cries'' is the debut studio album by British alternative rock band Esben and the Witch. The album was released on 31 January 2011 through Matador. The album came shortly after the band's shortlisting in the BBC’s Sound of 2011 poll. A U ...

'' in January 2011. The band's second album, ''

Wash the Sins Not Only the Face ''Wash the Sins Not Only the Face'' is the second studio album by British rock band Esben and the Witch released on 21 January 2013. A deluxe version of the album was also released, which features the LP and CD version of the album and a bonus 7" ...

'', was released in January 2013. In June 2014 the band announced their third album '' A New Nature'', the first to be released on their own Nostromo Records label. The band signed to independent French metal label,

Season of Mist Season of Mist is an independent record label and record distributor with subsidiaries in France and the United States. The record label was founded in 1996 by Michael S. Berberian in Marseille, France. From the start releasing black metal, pag ...

, in July 2016.

History

Formation and ''Violet Cries'' (2008–2011)

Esben and the Witch formed in 2008 when Daniel Copeman moved from Southampton to Brighton and met Thomas Fisher and they began making some music, eventually they decided they wanted a vocalist and held auditions which were unsuccessful. Thomas Fisher bumped into his old friend Rachel Davies, who had just graduated from Brighton University, and asked her if she would like to join the group and she accepted. In 2009 the band recorded their first EP, 33, and released it the same year, the EP gathered attention around the band and in 2010 they contributed their song "Skeleton Swoon" on volume 3 of the

Dance to the Radio Dance To The Radio is a British independent record label, based in Leeds, England. History It was named after the refrain of the Joy Division song "Transmission". The label launched with the release of a compilation album 'Dance To The Radi ...

label's 4 x 12". Shortly after that they released their first official single

Lucia, at the Precipice * ''For the tale see ''Esben and the Witch''.'' Esben and the Witch are a British three piece rock band formed in Brighton in 2008. consisting of Rachel Davies (vocals, bass), Thomas Fisher (guitar), and Daniel Copeman (drums, electronics - ...

in February on limited edition seven-inch vinyl on the

Too Pure Too Pure was a London-based independent record label formed in 1990 by Richard Roberts and Paul Cox. The label gained prominence after the release of PJ Harvey's debut album '' Dry'' in 1992, and subsequently found further success in the late ...

singles club, an accompanying video was also released. In 2010, the band signed to

and began work on their debut album, ''

'', in March 2010. They released their second single "

Marching Song A march, as a musical genre, is a piece of music with a strong regular rhythm which in origin was expressly written for marching to and most frequently performed by a military band. In mood, marches range from the moving death march in Wagner's ...

" in October, the single went at number 50 in the Billboard

Hot Singles Sales This is a compendium of the best-selling music singles. The criterion for inclusion is to sell at least ten million copies worldwide. The singles listed here were cited by reliable sources from various media, such as digital journalism, news ...

. On 31 January they released ''

'' shortly after the band's shortlisting in the BBC’s

Sound of 2011 Sound of... is an annual BBC poll of music critics and industry figures to find the most promising new music talent. It was first conducted by the BBC News website in 2003, and is now widely covered by the corporation's online, radio and TV outle ...

poll. The album was critically acclaimed and went at number 13 in the

UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rele ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

awarded it three and a half stars out of five, calling it "a promising and often captivating debut".Phares, Heather
''Violet Cries'' Review
,

. Retrieved 24 March 2013 ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' said it was "gothic but not goth" giving it 8/10. After the release of the album they went on to release two more singles off the album, "Warpath" and "Chorea". In November 2011 they released the ''

Hexagons EP ''Hexagons'' is the second EP by British band Esben and the Witch released on Matador Records in 2011 as a digital download. ''Hexagons'' was quite well received Consequence of Sound said 'The one thing Esben and the Witch does remarkably well wi ...

'' as a digital download.

''Wash the Sins Not Only the Face'' (2012–2013)

In 2012 the band began work on writing the new material for the album, unlike their debut album, ''

'' (2011), the lyrics were written solely by Davies. The writing for the album was done while they were isolated in a cottage in East Sussex. The songs were first recorded live in the studio, Davies said that they wanted the album to have a "warmer" sound. They co-produced the album with Tom Morris, saying that "It was great to have someone else in the process, actually, which is something which – again – we hadn’t done". Esben and the witch - Thomas Fisher

In October they announced ''Wash the Sins Not Only the Face'' along with promotional single "Deathwaltz". They felt this was a good bridge between their first album to their second, later in December 2012 an accompanying video was released directed by Sim Warren. It was released on 21 January 2013 on CD, digital download and a deluxe LP version of the album was also released, which features the LP and CD version of the album and a bonus 7". The lyrics seems to be a semi-

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

as it is meant to be a journey and each song represents part of that journey. A lot of the lyrics were inspired by books and poems such as Despair by

Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (russian: link=no, Владимир Владимирович Набоков ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Bo ...

and

The Road Not Taken "The Road Not Taken" is a narrative poem by Robert Frost, first published in the August 1915 issue of ''The Atlantic Monthly'', and later published as the first poem in the collection '' Mountain Interval'' of 1916. Its central theme is th ...

Robert Frost Robert Lee Frost (March26, 1874January29, 1963) was an American poet. His work was initially published in England before it was published in the United States. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloq ...

. The album was critically acclaimed,

said "Call it highbrow, call it highfalutin, but with ''Wash The Sins…'', Esben are carving hulking tablets of stone boasting that intellect is nothing to be scared of. No amount of splashing can scrub that out" giving it 7/10, and Clash said "...everything about this album is bigger than what has gone before and reveals an energised band with a real belief in what they’re doing. Quite right too". In July, they performed a live score for the film

La Antena ''The Aerial'' ( es, La Antena) is a 2007 Argentine fantasy drama film written and directed by Esteban Sapir. The film stars Valeria Bertuccelli, Alejandro Urdapilleta, Julieta Cardinali, with Rafael Ferro and Florencia Raggi in supporting roles ...

at the

East End Film Festival The East End Film Festival was one of the UK's largest film festivals. It ceased all operations on 4 March 2020. The owner, Alison Poltock, explained that "the push to provide a more mainstream commercial offering is not for us." Founded in 200 ...

. Wash The Sins... proved to be the band's final album with Matador, announcing their departure alongside their PledgeMusic campaign in February 2014.

Use of music in popular culture

The band's music has been used in a variety of TV shows across the world, most notably "Marching Song" on ''

Beavis and Butt-head ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' is an American adult animated series created by Mike Judge. The series follows Beavis and Butt-Head, both voiced by Judge, a pair of teenage slackers characterized by their apathy, lack of intelligence, lowbrow humor, ...

'', ''

Ringer Ringer(s) may refer to: Sports and games * Ringer, in sports idiom, an impostor, especially one whose pretense is intended to gain an advantage in a competition * Road course ringer, a non-NASCAR driver hired to race at a road course * A game p ...

'' and in a number of show trailers. "Despair", "When That Head Splits", "Shimmering" and "Smashed To Pieces In The Still of the Night" have been used in '' Waterloo Road'' during series 8 and "Smashed to Pieces..." in the trailer for Series 7 of '' Skins''.

Musical style

The band's music has been described as "electronic dubstep soundscapes"Cripps, Charlotte (2010)
'You heard them here first' - London festival keeps picking the hits
, ''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

'', 30 July 2010. Retrieved 24 March 2013 and "Radiohead without the mithering, goth stripped of unnecessary melodrama", with Davies' vocals compared to

Siouxsie Sioux Susan Janet Ballion (born 27 May 1957), known professionally as Siouxsie Sioux, is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. She was the lead singer of the rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees (1976–1996). They released 11 ...

and

PJ Harvey Polly Jean Harvey (born 9 October 1969) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments. Harvey began her career in 1988 when she joined loca ...

.Turner, Luke (2010)
Live Review: Esben And The Witch, Madame JoJo's, London Tuesday, January 5
, ''

'', 12 January 2010. Retrieved 24 March 2013 ''The Quietus'' called it "perfect gothic pop".Field Day 2010: A Mix From Esben & The Witch
, ''

The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quiet ...

'', 29 July 2010. Retrieved 24 March 2013 The band themselves once described their music as "nightmare pop"Tesco, Lucy (2010)
Esben & The Witch, Madame Jojo’s, London
, ''

This Is Fake DIY ''DIY'' is a United Kingdom-based music publication, in print and online. Its free print edition is released monthly with a physical circulation of 40,000 in UK venues, clubs and shops. DIY Magazine ''DIY'' was launched in 2002 by then-editor ...

'', 5 January 2010. Retrieved 24 March 2013 around the release of the '33' but have attempted to avoid genre classification since. With ''A New Nature'', Rachel Davies alluded to wanting to have a less electronic feel with further emphasis on the rock element of the band.Cummings, Bill (2014)
INTERVIEW: Esben and the Witch: “I was getting a little disenchanted with boring wet music. I wanted something with some kind of punch to it!”
, ''God Is in the TV Zine'', 19 August 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2014

Discography

* ''

'' (2011) * ''

'' (2013) * '' A New Nature'' (2014) * ''Older Terrors'' (2016) * ''Nowhere'' (2018) * ''Hold Sacred'' (2023)

References

External links

* {{Authority control English indie rock groups Matador Records artists English new wave musical groups British dark wave musical groups English gothic rock groups Musical groups established in 2008 2008 establishments in England