- Gabriele Filippi
- Feb 2021
- 4 min
- 1356 views
FLEMISH PROPORTIONS – This is what Redbook’s work brings to our minds at a first glance. Sprouting from an intimate Acoustic Folk seed, the live version for “Little Friend” touches peaks of natural grace, freeing light and warmth like the opening of a pair of divine angelic wings.
Redbook is an admirable creative act capable of creating a profound connection between lyrics and music.
Through a tangible, non-artificial, and evocative musicality, this London-based duo share stories and emotions with sincere expressiveness, and an ever-evolving sound.
In December 2020 the duo re-recorded their single “Little Friend” – to create a unique performance set in the midst of the Surrey Hills, chiseled in millennial stone blocks, inside Albury’s ancient Saxon church.
Swiss-born pop lover Soraya Grosso brings a rich, soulful voice and mastery of Italian classics molded around the vibrant strings of British guitarist Jake Tweddle, a self-diagnosed coffee addict who grew up on a steady diet of punk and folk.
A chance meeting outside a local cinema made these two inspired souls find common light under the promising moniker of Redbook, who like to share their statement under the histrionic label of a “genre-messy” hat where “Italian passion meets British quirk.”
Following the pop-inspired summer tune “Midnight” (2019), the 4-track EP “Big Smoke Sessions” (2019), a blend of folk, pop, funk, and rock, and the 2020 Valentine’s Day release “I Love You,” here comes a very special news.
Ever growing in both their music and reputation, the latest of this brilliant duo takes a different direction than their previous releases.
Opened by an admirable a cappella ensemble, the live version of “Little Friend” is as delicate as it is uplifting lashed by the magical and heady beauty.
The first seconds of the song are already more than enough to immediately realize that what we are listening to is not an ephemeral stylistic infatuation, but rather the result of brilliant musicianship.
The impulsiveness inherent in silences, pauses, and whispers are therefore indulged and satisfied with a candid touch at the entrance of the acoustic guitar arpeggio.
The message is clear. The promise of “Little Friend” is to take us up above the clouds, as we explore the feeling of being trapped, perhaps seeing everything you want in someone else’s hands.
Here Redbook captures the best of its magic. There is more than a commendable spark here. Halfway between a lullaby and a ballad, the raw and vulnerable voices join beautiful guitar lines, growing on the thrust and embrace of a warm and reassuring chorus, up to epic proportions of openness and breadth.
Suspended in the timeless atmosphere and natural reverberations of the millennial Saxon church in Albury, “Little Friend” emanates an aura woven from delicate harmonies and passionate voices, impeccably sealed by a visual that brings the saving blessing of sunshine into our lives. pouring through multicolored windows.
An entire rainbow would not be enough to equate the beauty of this work, so capable of hypnotizing and magnetizing all of our attention, now to Soraya’s vibrant vocal performance, now to Simon Stallard’s ancestral three-voice Gaelic choir, Matthew Tweddle, Ethan Taylor, now on Jake’s guitar and bittersweet touch.
The new page designed by Redbook demonstrates how this act still has so much to offer. Surely with this version of the enlarged ensemble, it is something that deserves to be repeated.
Luckily for us, thanks also to the success of the video, “Little Friend” is also available in streaming on audio platforms. To you the pleasure of discovering how, even without the support of the visual, this formidable duo managed to take this song to an even higher level. 
Listen now to "Little Friend," the latest Single, Video by Redbook, available in streaming on all major digital platforms. You can find your favorite one via songwhip.com/redbook/littlefriend
To know more about Redbook and their music, find and follow Redbook all over the web by checking the links below:
<\span>- .: Nova MUSIC blog // February 2021
You can also discover "Little Friend" and Redbook music by listening to our playlist NOVA ERA, a weekly rotation featuring an eclectic selection of artists covered by Nova MUSIC blog.
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