Channel Cairo - Elephant Room

Within the first minute of Channel Cairo’s ‘Elephant Room’, your ears encounter an assault of similarities: Doves piano, a soft Radiohead guitar line, Boy Kill Boy melodies, and harmonies that instantly draw a host of comparisons. All of these, and the fact that it screams Athlete, suggest it should be, at best, ‘nice’. However, it is far more than that.

Opening with spiralling piano and harmonies, the song settles into its mid paced stomp as the verse kicks in. The hooks bring to mind a host of songs that you can’t quite put your finger on. Though impressively, you never feel that it’s just a lazy amalgamation of influences. Instead, you’re rewarded with a warm sense of familiarity. As ‘Elephant Room’ progressively comes into its own, it takes a very welcome twist - the last thirty seconds capping the song off with an unexpected sense of grandiosity somewhere between Editors and Muse, if the two had a penchant for harmonies. All this being said: is it any good?

There’s a lot going on in these four minutes and twenty-five seconds, the result of which leaves one feeling thoroughly satisfied. However it also leaves one wondering, is there more to come from Channel Cairo? Or are we set for a continuation of the same influences - thus leading us down the tedious road (even more tedious than this metaphor) that so many bands have lost their way on before. Thankfully, the former seems more likely. So you’d be foolish not to keep at least one very alert ear to the ground to see what this London five piece can give us next. Here’s hoping they build on the promise that ‘Elephant Room’ has shown us.