Spiro are their own people, commendably operating in their own sphere and at their own pace. A contemporary acoustic ensemble that first came together through Bristol’s folk sessions scene, their first album for Real World Records, Lightbox is an extraordinarily stirring record.

Recorded over four days at Real World Studios in Box, live and without overdubs, largely produced by Simon Emmerson (the chief architect behind the Afro Celt Sound System and The Imagined Village projects), it showcases a highly imaginative and highly disciplined group with a sound that is unified but never uniform.

All four members, all four instruments, pull in the same direction, creating music that’s intricate yet so full of momentum and echoing – at various points – the work of Steve Reich, Michael Nyman and the Penguin Café Orchestra, but, kindred spirits aside, this is the music of Spiro – undeniably English, undeniably theirs.

“Fantastic….you feel your heart lift a few inches above its normal resting place” **** The Word

“Magnificent….rich, moving and cunningly wrought” ***** Songlines

“Fabulous…intriguing and exciting” fRoots

“An oddly compelling, strangely soulful music of mind and body” ****Independent

“Refreshingly unnerving” **** Mojo

22nd March 2012

Doors: 8.00pm

Tickets: £12.00

Tickets are available here

MAC

Cannon Hill Park

Birmingham

B12 9QH