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Single, video and live reviews of Haiku Salut

A Closer Listen

Haiku Salut leads off the album with the Christmasy “If It’s Not Baroque, Don’t Fix It”. Glockenspiels are responsible for the sweetness on this piece, but the trio’s combination of electronics with happy instruments (accordion, ukulele, piano) on last year’s debut EP has earned them fitting comparisons to early múm. (It’s also nice to see other writers distinguish early múm from later múm.) Jump to track three, and the theme continues with “Maybe I Can’t Fix Myself”, which also invites comparison to the twinkly efforts of Pawn. And yet, the trio is not exactly like either act; the organic instruments differentiate it from the latter, and the unmuddied optimism from the former. Haiku Salut is well on its way to a signature sound, which is difficult to do in such a short time. With a debut album due soon, there’s never been a better time to discover the work of this pleasantly magical act.

Textura

Don't let the lame pun in Haiku Salut's opening track title turn you off as “If It's Not Baroque (Don't Fix It)” makes for a very pleasing entry-point for the half-hour release. Pretty and melodic, the song invites comparison to early Múm in its march-like wedding of piano, strings, and tiny electronic noisemaking and especially in the glistening music box-like episode that emerges halfway through the song. The trio's second contribution to the EP, “Maybe I Can't Fix Myself,” is as much of a charmer as the first and is, frankly, even more Múm-like in its sound design—not that that's necessarily a bad thing when Haiku Salut's material offers such pleasure to the ears.

This Is Fake DIY

On their début offering – a 100-edition 3” CD-R EP entitled 'How We Learned To Get Along After The Yarn Bomb' – Derbyshire's Haiku Salut came across as the soundtrack to the best animated children's flick never released. Intricate and enchanting, it took you on all sorts of crazy journeys. They've grown up a bit for their first full-length – as 'Los Elefantes' testifies – but they've lost none of their skill for an immersive, almost cinematic experience, with this initial cut begging your imagination to go wild and think of an accompanying short film. Magical.

Sweeping The Nation

A Yann Tiersen soundtrack, chamber piano and accordion to hand, as rearranged and sent into something less definable and more experimentally playful by a Derbyshire instrumental trio whose debut album Tricolore is released on March 11th.

Sound Of Confusion

An all-girl trio from the Derbyshire Dales, Haiku Salut's music is, as their name may suggest, a little bit more exotic sounding. Their debut album 'Tricolore' is due for release in March and here they're giving us a sample of what's to come. 'Los Elephantes' fuses sounds from far and wide, having classical piano as its lead, they gradually add layers of French accordion and an Asian flavour to create a great dreamy instrumental.

Bochi Crew

Ever wanted a soundtrack to accompany you, making you feel removed from it all? Haiku Salut can certainly do that. A mix between quintessential Parisian street music and soft, composed melodies, "Los Elefantes" delivers your daily dose of magic. The trio primarly utilizes the likes of piano, accordions, ukeleles, and glockenspiels to craft their sound. Haiku Salut hail from the eastern midlands of England known as Derbyshire. An intriguing and rather useless fact about Derbyshire, the Romans were infatuated with the spot as it produced significant yields of lead ore in the abundant limestone cliffs. Now while mulling over the Roman empire enjoy, "Los Elefantes."

Sounds XP

Derby’s finest (and almost certainly only) Baroque-Pop-Folktronic-Neo-Classic something or other band release their latest offering on the consistently brilliant How Does It Feel to Be Loved Label. Last seen at London Popfest being all a bit too ramshackle I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this lot but this wonderfully polished slice of Yann Tiersen inspired instrumentalism is a world away from that performance.

A dreamy piano holds the first couple of minutes together accompanied by some wheezing accordion and a smattering of fairly sparse electronics bringing to mind when Elbow strip things back and go for the heartstrings instead of the arenas. Just when you think you know where the whole things going there’s a tremendous break down as the piano gives way to marimbaesque electronic beats before being joined by the ever present accordion and there’s even a guitar outro thrown in for good measure, it’s all a lot more thrilling than it has any right to be. This sort of wonderfully balanced instrumental music is hard to get right but Haiku Salut have certainly pulled it off here, though the real test will be whether they can do it consistently over a whole album without it becoming (admittedly very tasteful) background music

The Girls Are

Derbyshire orchestral-baroque-instrumental-everything-but-the-kitchen-sink lasses Haiku Salut have revealed the video to their new single. The clip to ‘Los Elefantes’ is a bit of a surreal wonder, seeing an unsuspecting bloke being enticed into an alternate world by a woman with red balloons and a gas mask – as you do. To tell the truth, we wouldn’t have resisted either… ‘Los Elefantes’ is taken from the trio’s forthcoming LP Tricolore, which is released on CD and vinyl (with a free download code too, in case that’s more your bag) on March 11 through How Does It Feel To Be Loved?.

Norman Lebrecht

This piece of cinema verité has been shot to accompany a debut release by Haiku Salut, a trio from the Derbyshire Dales who are part neo-classical, part electronica, part folk. It reflects the way they, and most of us, go about our daily biz. The piece is called Los Elefantes. The primary influence (see below) is Swedish.

For Folk's Sake

Our esteemed friends at How Does It Feel to be Loved recently announced their latest signing Haiku Salut. The three-piece are planning to release their debut album Tricolore this year (you can pre-order it now). We had a sneak preview of the album, and were delighted to hear that our favourite track Los Elefantes is to be the first single. 6music are predictably ALL OVER IT, and it’s been played by Gideon Coe and Tom Ravenscroft. You can download it for free here. And see the rather wonderful video below.

Nothing But Hope And Passion

Although the Derbyshire-based instrumental trio HAIKU SALUT is not that famous yet, NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION is sure they soon will be due to the fascinating music these three ladies create. Their first longplayer Tricolore is set for a march release via label How Does It Feel and already today the band gives away its first single, Los Elefantes, for free. A romantic littlle piece that reminds us of artists like MÚM, DETEKTIVBYRÅN or YANN TIERSEN. HAIKU SALUT use accordions, ukeleles, glockenspiels, pianos, loopery and laptopery to create this specific and romantic soundscape and we’ve already fallen in love with Los Elefantes. There is also a beautiful video which you can watch right here too.


The Endless Tail

Put simply Haiku Salut are a wonderfully infectious, rambunctious, and perhaps a little ramshackle sometime electro alternative trad all female three piece instrumental band...oh, and are utterly impossible to take your eyes and ears off of. I'm quite certain that this must be a popular consensus as the atmosphere throughout the set was intense to say the least. They are one of very few bands who can render a crowd entirely speechless to such an extent that there wasn't even any background chatter audible during the quieter elements of the set!! They also happen to have just released a debut album called Tricolore on the How Does It Feel To Be Loved label which I for one bought immediately after their set.

SYFFAL

The second this video starts you know it's going to be fucking awesome. Vibe, instrumentation, pace, fucking creepy chick in a gas mask holding 99 luft balloons. Whoever this band Haiku Salut are, they're fucking awesome. That accordion could play at my fucking funeral it's so damn crispy bacon. Los Elefantes means "trippy ass chase through urban and forest settings while high on salvia" in Europeanish, or so says my alta vista web crawler. Peep the download of the single they're offering on their Soundcloud page, and join me in hoping their album that is dropping in March is as magically delcious as this teasing ass display of gorgeousness.

Inforty

In “Los Elefantes”, Haiku Salut offer us a fiercely poignant and cinematic study of solitude and uncertainty. A dash of the fantastic against the drudgery of urban life draws our hero into a mysterious woodland… or does it?

Fensepost

Haiku Salut is a new band out of Derbyshire Dales in the UK. The instrumental trio is said to be influenced heavily by Yann Tiersen and early Mum, and you can hear that in their song “Los Elefantes”. The band has released a new video for the song, which you can check out below. The video, written and directed by Joshua Dunlop, also follows the likes of Mum with interesting twists and a unique storyline. In it, the protagonist catches sight of a girl in a gas mask holding several red balloons. Like the Little Wings video we talked about last week, this one seems to be yet another play on reality and sanity.

Unsigned Bands Online

Haiku Salut are a female fronted trio from the Derbyshire Dales who probably do best to describe their own music as “Baroque-Pop-Folktronic-Neo-Classical-Something-Or-Other” and they probably do more to affirm the statement that music is an endless process of discovery than any act I've ever heard. The video track 'Los Elefantes' is taking from their forthcoming album Tricolore and was released as a free download on the 7th January, 2013. It draws on a whole range of artistic influences, from soundtrack specialists Yann Tiersen and Benoît Charest to the masterful electronica of acts like Ametsub and early Múm. The result is an elegant, atmospheric and extremely inventive collage of pure spellbinding art and I really hope that this stuff catches on. We will all be better off for it.

This Is That Song

If you only listen to one song tonight, make it “Los Elefantes” by Haiku Salut (2013, from the forthcoming album Tricolore). Haiku Salut is an instrumental folk-rock trio from Derbyshire, England. I know nothing about them They’re three gals who will be releasing their debut album in March on How Does It Feel To Be Loved Records. I got a note about this song in the mailbag a few days ago, and I’m pretty into it, so I’m passing it along to you. Everything that that’s ever been written about this band includes the phrases “like early múm”, and “they have an accordion”. I’m running late tonight, so I won’t get too far into the details, but I definitely understand the comparisons to múm.

For the first 40 seconds, it’s kind of reminiscent of Rachel’s, with the sweeping piano solo. When the accordion and the melodica come in a bit later, it’s something else entirely. Totally folky and pretty cool. The piano continues with that Rachel’s thing, but at 1:46, it takes a sharp turn and all of the laptoppy stuff comes in. That’s when it turns into something that sounds quite a bit like múm. By the way, I’m stunned to discover that I’ve never written about múm. They keep adding elements and instruments and textural levels throughout the song, and it makes for a pretty wild ride. A wild ride in two disparate parts. For extra credit, I highly recommend the official video here. The three “spirits” hanging out in the trees are the band members.

Music OMH

Thursday’s opening band, Haiku Salut, are another prospect entirely. The Derbyshire trio are due to release their debut album on the recently resurrected How Does It Feel To Be Loved in March, and woo the crowd with their high concept instrumental set, which manages to merge woozing folk, dubstep and classical sensibilities. It’s what Gold Panda, Devotchka and Yann Tiersen would sound like if they were all thrown together.

Dans Le Mur...Du Son

De l'intérêt de vous parler d'un EP qui n'est peut-être même plus disponible au moment ou j'écris ces mots, vu qu'il ne sort qu'en version physique (oui, en 2013...) et dans un tirage ultra-limité. Mais 1. il est très bon, 2. l'album d'Haiku Salut arrive très bientôt et 3. vous devriez être capable de trouver d'autres travaux d'Hopeless Local Marching Band si vous le souhaitez.

Le plus étonnant dans ce split EP est son étonnante cohérence, sachant que les univers des trois petites anglaises et du japonais, qui alternent les titres (deux chacun) sont quand même bien différent. Or on a l'impression qu'ils se passent la main et arrivent à rebondir sur le titre de l'autre. Ainsi au rigolo 'If It's Not Baroque (Don't Fix It)' semblant mêler néo-classique, jouets et glitch succède comme une évidence un 'Sleepwalker's Night' à la fois dreamy, ambient et spacial qu'Haiku Salut semble continuer dans le totalement alien 'Large Sleepers From Little Splinters Grow' avant que l'interminable 'Paradoxial Insomnia' ne vienne progressivement transformer le silence en dancefloor fantômatique. Passionnant et original même si par toujours évident à digérer...

When You Motor Away

Gemma, Louise and Sophie, three women from the UK's Derbyshire Dales, form Haiku Salut. Their music really is its own genre - experimental, baroque, instrumental music with folk and electronic elements. Instruments include, but probably are not limited to, loop pedals, accordions, and melodicas. Their album Tricolore will be out in March on London's How Does It Feel To Be Loved label. The single "Los Elefantes" was released in January, and is available as a free download here below. It is a gorgeous song and I look forward to the album.

Louder Than War

Proving that indiepop doesn’t have to be all whimsical or backward glancing Haiku Salut are breaking out of the scene with an debut full of atmospheric instrumentals. A delayed release means the debut won’t be released until the end of March but lead single Los Elefantes is a brilliant introduction to what’s to come. It is, in fact, a perfect combination of continental accordion, electro beats and percussion creating a creeping yet up tempo track. In fact the rich layers of instruments are part of the intrigue; elsewhere they use – in their words – “accordions, ukeleles, glockenspiels, pianos, loopery and laptopery to create a soundscape that has been likened to early múm, Detektivbyrån and the soundtrack to Amélie”. It can be dark, it can be playful but it’s an endlessly fascinating and vast soundscape to explore and luxuriate in. And if it’s that good to listen to it’s equally great to see performed. The ease at which the band swap instruments and move around each other is almost a dance, a wonderfully choreographed but very natural, mellow dance. We can tell you their debut is a very special collection of atmospheric instrumentals, playful retro stabs and mesmerising beats but more about that in an album review in a few weeks time.

Eaten By Monsters

Pitched in the under-explored middle-ground between Mogwai and Yann Tiersen, Haiku Salut are a trio of Darbishire lasses with a mesmerizing sonic palate and a distinct francophile sensibility. And if the menu on their homepage is anything to go by they’ve got a good eye for a bad pun, too, which makes me like them even more. There’s an album in the works, called Tricolore and out in March, but as a tantalizing foretaste they’re giving away their track Los Elefantes as a free download.

Sounds From The Other City

One of the many acts that we’re excited about seeing this year are Haiku Salut, who Underachievers have graciously arranged to play their stage at Sounds from the Other City 2013. They claim to be Baroque-pop folktronic neo-classical something-or-other – which is kind of a modest way of saying they’re pretty special and not really the kind of thing you’re going to be hearing many other bands do.

Holy Moly

We don’t want any music PRs getting ideas about sending us unsolicited music in the hope we might play it (as if!) but someone asked us to listen to this the other day, which we begrudgingly did and were instantly transported to a better place. Haiku Salut’s bandcamp page describes what they do as “Baroque-pop folktronic neo-classical something-or-other” which is sort of right. Who doesn’t love a bit of that? They’re also from Derbyshire. More bands should be from Derbyshire.

Drafted

Haiku Salut are an all girl trio from Derbyshire who craft experimental pop music that makes unlikely bedfellows of styles as diverse as baroque and electronica. Accordions, glockenspiels, pianos and laptops are the tools of their trade and their debut EP ‘How We Got Along after the Yarn Bomb’ was an impressive showcase of both influence and ability. Interestingly, despite the bands many allusions toward all things twee – their facebook page cites their interests simply as ‘primary colours and hiking’ – the highlight of the EP was a song called ‘Vowels as Clear as Church Bells’, which, clocking in at over six minutes, felt grandly cinematic and achingly melancholic. Their debut album ‘Tricolore’ is set for release on March 11th and out of the goodness of their hearts they’re giving away their wonderful new single ‘Los Elephantes’ on their website as a free download. Piano and accordion set the tone in the manner of a particularly wistful piece of French cinema before giving way, quite unexpectedly, to burbling electronica and skittering drum patterns.

God Is In The TV

Finding a home on celebrated indie-pop Club night and record label How Does it Feel to be Loved, Derbyshire trio Haiku Salut have made first single ‘Los Elefantes’ available for free download on their soundcloud pageWith Melodicas, accordions and piano curling around looped drums and synths its easy to see why the band have been tarred with the ‘Folktronica’ brush but for fans of Yann Tiersen and The Album Leaf, forthcoming album ‘Tricolore’ (out March 25th) will be an essential listen.

Beats Per Minute

Haiku Salut are three-piece from the Derbyshire Dales in the UK who perform live without ever speaking a word on stage. Such a feature might come off as down right unsocial, but it reinforces the idea that sometimes it’s best to just let the music do the talking. And Haiku Salut’s music has plenty to say, evoking worlds of their own, but also giving a commentary of sorts with each deliberate note. The trio will release their new album, Tricolore in March on How Does It Feel To be Loved?, following their 2011 extraordinarily-titled How We Got Along After The Yarn Bomb EP. Below you can watch the video for one of the new album tracks, “Los Elefantes” which follows the arrival of a young man in London who is soon led astray by a gas mask-wearing girl with a bunch of red balloons. Soon he’s transported to an idyllic forest where he’s stalked by spirits (played by the band members) in a series of wonderfully executed shots.The track’s a mystical affair, too, with plenty of accordion that will bring to mind Yann Tiersen but which also manages to makes steps past that comparison. Watch the Joshua Dunlop-directed video below, and you can head over here to download the track for free.

Time Out

All the way from Derbyshire, Haiku Salut make fidgety, experimental folk-pop from layers of acoustic and electronic instrumentation. It's tricky to pin down, but it would be the perfect soundtrack for a grainy 1970s home video of a sunny day at the beach.

Architecture Of Happiness

Haiku Salut are kinda like a post-modern glitchy folk instrumental team. If anyone has seen the episode of Star Trek TNG “11001001” with the alien race called Binars which communicate as one single being, it was like three of those playing 23rd century Beirut covers.

The National Student

Haiku Salut are a modern-pop enigma: their electro influences co-mingle with French composers, head-on and beautifully.

The female trio from Derbyshire have suitably folky undertones weaved into their music. Haiku Salut take chimes, trumpets, accordions, piano, and then turn it upside-down with samplers and loop-pedals.

You won’t find some electro rework of Mumford and Sons, though. If you’re a fan of Tiersen’s soundtrack for Le Fabuleux Destin D’Amelie Poulain, their debut album can go into the same playlist. The theatrical riffs and the odd call to old-time Paris run elegantly throughout the album, developing into an electronic update and bouncing back again.

Sound a bit confusing? It’s meant to be. Haiku Salut called their album Tricolore with the primary colours in mind: “three colours that create everything in the spectrum but when spun on a colour wheel become nothing at all."

It’s okay if we don’t get what’s going on, the idea is simply to enjoy each nugget of inspiration and each turn the music takes. The album is certainly meticulously crafted, but not to be taken too seriously.

Haiku Salut is for the aloof among us.

This Is Fake DIY

At the risk of sounding like half of your Twitter/Facebook feed, this weather eh? Never fear though, because there's at least one silver lining amongst this relentless barrage of clouds, that of it being perfect weather to listen to the new Haiku Salut track (and, as of Monday, the parent record 'Tricolore'). 'Glockenbar' continues the Derbyshire trio's seemingly effortless ability to create rolling, cinematic instrumental soundscapes to lose yourself in, with glitchy electronic percussion being joined in by reflective accordion and glockenspiel lines. If you're on the hunt for a new exploring soundtrack for this particularly cold March, look no further.

Mouser

UK-native baroque pop outfit Haiku Salut have a gently driving optimism about them. “Glockelbar” gradually builds layer upon layer of soft sounds like gentle hands stroking your back.

Beats Per Minute

Tricolore, the debut album from three-piece Haiku Salut was released this week via How Does It Feel To Be Loved? We’ve already seen the enamouring video for “Los Elefantes” and below you can hear another album cut called “Glockelbar.” As might be guessed for the title, the track features plenty of plinky, glimmering glockenspiel that’s surrounded by accordion wheezing and electronics buzzes and chirps. A friendly and mutated take on the original instrument, just like the title suggests.

Music OMH

In a time when band names can tend to gravitate towards the uninspired or formulaic the appearance of Derbyshire all-girl trio Haiku Salut has been one of the most eye-catching musical discoveries of 2013 to date. Their name may be phonetically agreeable (go on – say it one more time), yet it’s also strangely somehow reflective of their music, capturing the sense of individuality and otherness present in their music.

Tonight’s show at the Buffalo Bar is the launch event for their enchanting debut album Tricolore. Support comes from The Understudies who impress with an assured, melodic acoustic set that subtly references the likes of The Smiths, Tindersticks and The Housemartins. By the time they close with latest single Everyone Deserves At Least One Summer Of Love they’ve won over the crowd, some of who eagerly ask when their debut album will be out (the band are still looking for a label to release it). Next, Birmingham trio Kate Goes push the evening in a different direction with their quirky, kitschy, offbeat girl-pop before Haiku Salut take to the stage.

The bijou nature of Tricolore (clocking in just over half an hour in length) ensures that most of it gets played tonight. One of the most impressive aspects of the show is how they swap instruments effortlessly (throughout the gig each member plays accordion, glockenspiel, synthesiser, percussion and laptop not to mention individual contributions of ukulele, trumpet and guitar). Indeed, it is the refreshing mix of instrumentation and fluid integration of electronics that shines through as their biggest strength. The music may be entirely instrumental but it has personality, femininity and appeal in abundance. There may be occasional nervous glances shot across the stage but judging by the reactions on their faces the band are enjoying it as much as the sell-out crowd.

Sounds Like There’s A Pacman Crunching Away At Your Heart begins quietly but blossoms into something vivacious and animated that recalls Icelandic ensemble Múm. A similar progression happens on Six Impossible Things as the layers of accordion gradually flower into something bigger, whilst the backfiring opening beats of Leaf Stricken elicit similar comparisons.

Picking out likenesses to other bands might not be too difficult but these influences are subsumed and presented in an original, embraceable way. They may not quite have the string-based refinement of Icelandic quartet Amiina but they definitely share common musical ground (especially evident on Glockelbar), whilst the piano-led Watanabe has a slight Penguin Cafe Orchestra feel to it.

The latter part of the set features Los Elefantes which has a distinct Parisian charm to it, evoking the music of Yann Tiersen. They are joined on stage by A Little Orchestra for Train Tracks For Wheezy, ensuring it sails away blissfully just like on record and they also play No, You Say It which, powered by a euphoric 4/4 beat and containing hints of Dan Deacon, is the perfect set-closer. The music on Tricolore may not be the easiest to replicate in a live environment but tonight Haiku Salut succeed, capturing our hearts along the way.

God Is In The TV

I was intrigued by Haiku Salut, from the moment I saw the playful and mysterious video for Los Elefantes. The instrumental music transported me a world away from any other new indie artists – combining tremulous piano cadences with French accordion; akin to Yann Tiersen’s work on Amélie but with lively electronic beats and a sense of urgent pop underpinning. The focus being entirely on the music – and their classical musicianship and unique inventiveness that goes with it – marks them out. How many more four or five man 4-beat guitar/bass/drums bands can we take? I recently opened up two or three free music magazines on the same day to find that almost every page was adorned with men; bearded men. There was complete homogeneity in these gangs of men and their beards. It was totally dispiriting to see that any females that did feature in these widely distributed publications were afforded only tokenistic spaces. Even the blustersomely great Joy Formidable took a back-seat in the scheme of things.

In Haiku Salut we have three richly talented females, and if the world has any sense, their music- making and spirited approaches to songwriting will be celebrated from the rooftops – although, quietly, tenderly in people’s hearts is perhaps more apt.

It was wonderful to see the band live at a How Does it Feel to Be Loved? night. The night was laced with true elegance. Never have I been to such a gently wonderful gig – nor with such a prominence of violins and other interesting and undervalued instruments in alternative music. Little Orchestra were just that, and there was a nice hush at times as we all strained to attune to this new experience of silence playing its part in between grand sweeps of classical-like compositions. I feel like I was being reprimanded for daring to squeeze past people to get to the toilets at one point! The next couple of bands were a bit different – there was a squeaky dog toy at one point. With Haiku Salut, there was a sense of expectancy and thrill in the air of welcoming such a positively creative new band. Here, the glockenspiel sound was particularly welcome, and the songs tinkled with dreamy delight. The sound of video game style electronic blips and beats hurrying gladly along work so well against the stark sophistication of piano, violin, acoustic guitar, and so on. I love the variety of acoustic drums too – sometimes just a primitive tap of drumsticks across the metal top of a bass drum, or some Jesus and Mary Chain style soft mallets played standing up.

I wonder if the indie basement retreat, the Buffalo Bar, was quite the right settings for such sounds, though. There ought to have been a revered hush, and not the gaggle of chatterers filling the air, but it was a Friday night atmosphere, what with it being the night before a long bank holiday weekend. Carried away by the grandeur of the cinematic sounds, and merry liquids imbibed, I said to my friend: They should be playing the Royal Albert Hall, not this place! A bit extreme at this stage, but I do mean it that this is the kind of new alternative music I want to be elevated to great heights, and Haiku Salut really fill me with imagination and inspiration.

The Guardian

A quick glance at Derbyshire-based trio Haiku Salut's official website immediately dispels any notion that their delicate instrumentals are the works of po-faced musos with a sense of humour bypass. For starters, the site's home page header features the following description of the band's sound: "Baroque-Pop-Folktronic-Neo-Classical-Something-Or-Other".

The list of instruments they use starts with the factual – "accordions, ukuleles, glockenspiels, pianos"– before moving on to "loopery and laptopery". Apparently featuring some of the aforementioned instruments and a "glitch plug-in", the beautiful Glockelbar, the latest single to be taken from their debut album Tricolore, pads and patters about charmingly, a slowly bubbling electronic undercurrent juxtaposing with the creaking accordions. For the video – premiered here and featuring the work of Japanese animator Mitsuo Toyama, who was on a long list of people the band had always wanted to work with (alongside Joanna Newsom and Madonna) – we're lead into a lovingly created fantasy world of children riding shooting stars by a giraffe wearing a scarf.

Hatch'd

When asked to compile a list of people they wanted to hear the album, Haiku Salut ambitiously wrote down names such as Haruki Murakami, Madonna, The Spice Girls and Mitsuo Toyama. One of those people would answer the call, and no, it wasn't Madonna.
Instead, Toyama, who was responsible for the incredible Serph video Luck, immediately offered his services. The result is a childhood like dream following a giraffe wearing a scarf, effortlessly gliding through an autumnal night sky. Seeing is believing on this one folks.

Beats Per Minute

The debut album from Derbyshire group Haiku Salut, Tricolore, is currently available for your listening pleasure, via How Does It Feel To Be Loved? The trio already have a fine video to their name in the form of the enchanting “Los Elefantes” and they’ve got another one to go alongside it. Featuring animation by Mitsuo Toyama, the video is a soft-edged weary tale of a young boy travelling through the night on the back of a giraffe that feels like something channelled through early 1900?s cinema. Watch it below, via The Guardian.

The Musically Inclined

I don't write about a ton of instrumental music on here, probably because of my own overwhelming bias toward words, but I thought I'd break that pattern today. Check out "Los Elefantes" by U.K. trio Haiku Salut. "Los Elefantes" is a really lovely little tune that mixes a bit of electronica with gorgeous pop-y folk sounds. I love how delicate and layered it is– it's the kind of piece that demands your full attention. Haiku Salut's album drops in the U.S. tomorrow (April 16). It's called Tricolore and I'd be willing to bet it's a great headphones record. If spring has sprung in your part of the world, find a sunny spot and take "Los Elefantes" for a spin.

OK West

No, they aren’t Japanese. Not Spanish either. The members of Haiku Salut, Louise, Sophie, and Gemma, hail from Derbyshire, England, and will release an album’s worth of baroque-pop-folktronic (their words, not mine) on 16 May. Check out the first single off the disc, the beautiful instrumental “Los Elephantes,” below. The track begins with a beautifully composed piano piece, before an accordion gets thrown in. The songs takes an even wilder turn about halfway through with the addition of some subtle electronic effects, before tribal drums bring the whole thing full circle.

Nothing But Hope And Passion

Derbyshire-based instrumental trio HAIKU SALUT presents a new music video. It’s for the track Glockelbar, a little piece from their first longplayer Tricolore which just has been released via label How Does It Feel. As some of you might remember we already enjoyed the track Los Elefantes back in January.

The three girls – influenced by the sounds of MÚM, DETEKTIVBYRÅN or YANN TIERSEN – use accordions, ukeleles, glockenspiels, pianos, loopery and laptopery to create their specific soundscape. Glockelbar hints into a a similar direction and comes with a wonderful animated video clip, directed by Mitsuo Toyama. Watch the new HAIKU SALUT output right here.

SYFFAL

BROBROTHERS AND BROSISSES, I TOO, HAVE HAD DREAMS OF GIRAFFES BRO.

Haiku Salut know the perfect spot, right in between my lust and my spare pouch of Chamomile tea (which is located in my breast pocket bro), in which to poke me. The song Glockelbar has sort of driven me nuts over the last few weeks, as I keep waiting for the song to go somewhere, but when I get there, I don't even realize I went where there was even a there to get to from there over to here, which is where where is now that I'm not over there.

The animation from Mitsuo Toyama is endearing in a childlike manner, but in a way that makes you miss your childhood because you didn't realize the world was so full of assholes.

Please joining me in loving this band.

Bochi Crew

Derbyshire's Haiku Salut have just released an animated video for "Glockelbar." The last feature we ran on the trio praised the release of "Los Elefantes." "Glockelbar" stems from the same, tranquil vein that has come to represent Haiku Salut. They land somewhere between Message to Bears and Múm. According to the trio, their newest "chronicles the race to death using only an accordion, a glockenspiel and a glitch plug-in." The video, animated and produced by Mitsuo Toyama, portrays a sleeping boy greeted by a giraffe at his window before being taken on a sleepy ride through the cosmos. I couldn't help but be reminded of the Little Prince. Both "Los Elefantes" and "Glockenbar" are featured on the new album, Tricolore. Do yourself and the band a favor by picking it up here!

Supajam

Glockelbar, the new single from Haiku Salut, has both a mournful accordion driving things along and a beautiful animated video by Mitsup Toyama which is like watching a children’s dream. The band are three women from Derbyshire, and their debut album Tricolore is out now. The video is for fans of giraffes and lullabies.

The Backroom

Haiku Salut are a Derby-shire based multi-instrumentalist trio whose style is self-described as “Baroque-Pop-Folktronic-Neo-Classical-Something-Or-Other” their album ‘Tricolore’ is out now and with a Gallic flavour of sounds running through the album it has more in common with France than just the bleu-blanc-rouge reference in the album title.

The album draws influences from a wide spectrum with leanings towards Aphex Twins abstract electronica to the more obvious Yann Tiersen.

The track Los Elefantes is strikingly similar to Yann Tiersen’s soundtrack work on Amelie (which I cannot recommend highly enough) but the trio wrestle this influence into submission to claim as their own in the latter part of the song as the accordians and piano blend with glitchy electronic beats and blips.

The electronic spin does not detract from the beauty of the track; in fact it only enhances and evolves into something quite wonderful and unique.

Definitely for fans Amelie era Yann Tiersen looking for a new angle on his style.

The Joy Collective

Haiku Salut are one of the more unlikely candidates for one-to-watch status, being as they are ex-members of empirically terrible sixth-form twee shower The Deirdres, but they’ve as little in common with their early youthful stumblings as you could possibly imagine. Delivering impeccably on their published influences of múm and Yann Tiersen, Tricolore flits between waltz-time accordian and keyboard vignettes recalling Tiersen or Beirut and twinkling folktronica employing pianos, glockenspiels, harpsichords, burbling synths and stuttering laptop beats. The effect is as breezy and playful as their indiepop roots but its sleepy charm is fully-formed, stirring and warmly romantic.

For reviews of "Tricolore" by Haiku Salut press here ku Salut is for the aloof among us.
To buy "Tricolore" go here