Description
The self-titled, four-track cassette-only EP is the debut effort by the American alternative pop band Sixpence None the Richer, self-released on Sixpence Music in 1992. (Re-issued on CD in 1994 as The Original Demos, featuring a bonus track.) The EP was engineered by Martin Baird at Verge Studios in Farmers Branch, Texas; with Baird and band members T.J. Behling and Matt Slocum producing. All songs written by Matt Slocum except track A1 written by T.J. Behling.
Sixpence None the Richer is Leigh Bingham on vocals; T.J. Behling on bass and keyboards, as well as vocals on track A1; and Matt Slocum on guitars, keyboards, and vocals, and as well providing drum programming. (Drum programming on track A1 by Martin Baird. Voice samples on track A2 from “The Big Chill”.)
The Original Demos, CD
Now here’s a treat for those now hooked on the classic The Fatherless And The Widow album and wondering how we must wait for a follow up to that classic. The band have now very considerately made available the four demos that landed the band from Texas a deal with REX, on CD. The arrangement of «Trust» here is quite different again to the two versions on the album proper and not as good, Leigh Bingham sounding a tad hesitant (she probably was being a mere slip of a thing back in ’92). But the killer is «Spotlight». Those readers living in Devon will have heard it on the Cross Rhythms Experience radio programmes (the track was featured on the ‘ACM Journal’s 3rd Anniversary Compilation CD‘) and is a favourite of CR producer Jonathan Bellamy. Astonishing as it may sound, taking the vocal mike momentarily away from the delicious Ms Bingham, wrapping around a layer of haunting keys, and therefore turning it into a Matt Slocum solo is, by a short head, even more splendid than the proper album version. There are a couple of other high-quality demos here. Plus there’s a bonus (not credited on the sleeve) – two songs recorded live during Sixpence’s tour with 10,000 Maniacs. And for UK readers prepared to rush off their cheques to Dual Edge, there’s another bonus. The sleeve comes signed by all the band! Devotees of one of the most original new sounds in CCM will surely soon be seiging Soho. [Tony Cummings, Cross Rhythms, February 1995]
Cassette tracklist:
Side One
A1. “Spotlight”
A2. “The Fatherless & The Widow”
Side Two
B1. “Thoughts Of You”
B2. “Trust”
Note: Independently re-issued on CD-EP by Ara Nova Management in 1994, entitled The Original Demos, featuring an uncredited bonus track (Meaningless / Falling Leaves).
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