a balloon called moaning

The Joy Formidable recorded most of this self released mini album debut in a bedroom and ascended noisily into the indie stratosphere to bring hope out of the darkness.  The group was formed in Wales by childhood friends Ritzy Bryan and Rhydian Dafydd after playing in Tricky Nixon and Sidecar Kisses.  

Bryan reveals:    "We’d known each other for many years before making the leap towards writing together. The two of us had moved back to North Wales after a really shitty time in Manchester, we had a bond and a pledge to make music fun and meaningful again. There was a lot of soul sharing in those early months and creatively a lot of experimentation. Then the songs began to flow and the dynamic became intuitive. Undoubtedly the writing has evolved with time; it’s important to us to always keep pushing things musically, keep ourselves challenged. Within that, it's all linked by the same voice that emerged two years ago...We’ve never been victims of hype, and it should only be feared if it's thrust upon you before you're either ready or capable to back it up. The band's enjoyed a natural growth - we’ve toured a lot and we’ve released material when it’s felt right. We’ve had the space to get better and better...Not a lot of thought was given to [being a trio]. It felt like a natural line up to the songs we’d written and recorded...The music is one enormously important part of TJF, but we take an avid interest in all the things outside of that too - the visuals, Rhydian at the helm of our artwork, there’s a big lyrical emphasis too. When we’re absorbed in something, there’s never any outside referencing, we work best in a bubble, but the rest of the time gives way to any unconscious seeping."

'A Balloon Called Moaning' was recorded by the band and features Rhiannon "Ritzy" Bryan on lead vocals and guitar; Rhydian Dafydd on bass and backing vocals; and Matthew James Thomas on drums and percussion.

Dafydd says:   "We essentially did ‘A Balloon Called Moaning’ ourselves and have just been gigging the songs since. Of course, it’s all about what you’re happy with and what you’re proud of but for some people in the UK, who have been following us from the start, you’ll hear them saying ‘oh, why have you got ‘Cradle’ on the album, it was done like two years ago?’ Essentially, ‘A Balloon Called Moaning’ was just a demo though that we wanted to get out there for people to hear our songs ... To be honest, 'A Balloon Called Moaning' was kind of a happy accident, just a collection of songs we had at that point."





http://www.thejoyformidable.com/




https://myspace.com/thejoyformidable/music/album/a-balloon-called-moaning-15590258





Whirring




Austere




Cradle




The Greatest Light Is the Greatest Shade







'A Balloon Called Moaning'
full album:



1. "The Greatest Light Is the Greatest Shade"   5:20
2. "Cradle"   2:47
3. "Austere"   3:05
4. "While the Flies"   3:41
5. "Whirring"   3:34
6. "9669"   2:49
7. "The Last Drop"   3:25
8. "Ostrich"   4:37