Released: 03/09

What a welcome delight this was to receive in the post! Before even hearing the CD in its entirety, it’s obvious this one was a keeper. Get Up When You Come Over is Liverpool/Gloucester outfit A Cup Of Tea’s debut five track EP, designed to take you an ambient tour of cinematic soundscapes and playful innovation.

People Are Part 3, the opening track sets the tone with smooth, rolling drums leading to an engulfing ambience created through varying synth sounds. This then transcends into a playful broken beat feel which carries over gently across the first three tracks. Delicious bouncy melodies, littered with glitches, and inverted samples, make this as intricate and indeed interesting as many a respected Warp records artist. Throughout the EP, the group flirt with breakbeat, perhaps demonstrated best in my personal favourite track Lots, which starts comparatively heavy, breaking a third of the way through only to come back stronger, trippier, and a whole load more emphatic. The dynamics of this song epitomise the fantastic structure and precision these guys are obviously blessed with and for anyone listening it’s hard not to appreciate this.

As much as this sounds like a group who are still refining their sound, it is the creativity and delicate nature of experimentation that really makes this EP so appealing. It will be interesting to see where they take their sound from here, but it is clear they have a lot at their disposal and if the new tracks on their myspace page are anything to go by then A Cup Of Tea could soon become the refreshing drink of choice for any self respecting music fan.

www.myspace.com/acupofteaforyouandme

David Preece