Aquilo - Put Me Down

Aquilo first set down real roots and turned heads with their darkened, soaring lament ‘You There’. It was an arresting first impression, and in the year following its release, the Lake District duo have been busy flexing their increasingly experimental chops. Initially pegged as moody electonica-peddlers, Aquilo have gradually shown leanings towards huge Rn’B ballads instead, and they’ve shown a playful streak, too. Aquilo are one of the few acts capable of making listeners people cry with a track that includes playful saxophone licks. It’s a skill indeed.

‘Put Me Down’ arrives hot on the heels of aforementioned saxy ballad ‘Better Off Without You,’ and though there’s some subtle saxing in the background now and again, by and large Aquilo are focused on a twangier, funkier road. Chimes gradually blot out across the paper as Tom Higham sings “these eyes, they have seen it all, but I’m still getting lost,” and subtly the whole thing creeps into full focus. ‘Put Me Down’ might be tentative when it comes to change - lyrically, at least - but Aquilo prove that they’re constantly in the process of reinvention.