Recordstore

Gentle Stranger took just one week to crystallise a set of ideas that formed the emotional core of their debut album Love And Unlearn. The band, who have a shifting cast of associated members, were then comprised of Tom Hardwick-Allan, Alex McKenzie, Josh Barfoot and Evangeline Ling (who has since left to focus on Audiobooks). “It was the first time that we tried to record a stand alone project,” says multi-instrumentalist Hardwick-Allan of the seven days they spent in one small room two and a half years ago. “it’s a snapshot of the band at that particular time, rather than representative of us as a whole.”

Recorded “almost all live”, there are no samples and precious few overdubs. The band are all accomplished multi-instrumentalists, and recall heading to Margate’s PRAH studios by train, carrying everything from a flute, trombone, and saxophone to a dual clarinet and a smoke alarm. They even brought a toy piano, despite only needing four notes, such was their dedication to getting things right in terms of both tone and texture.