Small Black Arrows
From Monday 28th October onwards, our band of the week on Tameside Radio's Local Music Spotlight feature are Small Black Arrows. As viewers of the Netflix phenomenon 'Sex Education' watched the show's bad girl Maeve Wiley cosy up in her prized ‘Small Black Arrows’ T-shirt, many music fans may have wondered who Small Black Arrows actually are. Fans of the show may be forgiven for thinking they are a fictional band dreamed up by the creatives behind the wildly popular, Emmy winning, comedy drama, but Small Black Arrows are in fact very real, and they are unbelievably good.
The brainchild of Luke Bailey and Jimmy Hanley during the Covid-19 lockdown, and their multiple disciplined backgrounds in the arts were the catalyst for their formation. Small Black Arrows combine eclectic influences from folk to trip-hop and from RnB to rock and opera, to create their own unique brand of mesmerising, atmospheric music, using alternative instrumentation to question traditional arrangements, an approach also reflected lyrically.
One half of the eclectic duo, actor and screenwriter Luke Bailey may be a familiar face to TV viewers, though almost unrecognisable since he played Marley Kelly on BBC’s hit series Waterloo Road. When not collecting platinum discs for his contributions to critically acclaimed albums, like Smolik / Kev Fox, the other half of Small Black Arrows, Jimmy Hanley , also likes to dabble in the world of film, composing soundtracks for movies.
Their lyrics betray an obvious fondness for their working-class upbringing, resulting in music that is affectionate toward the streets that provided the awkward thrill of first love. The band's latest album, entitled 'The British Museum', was released in May and is available on all usual platforms, and is an immersive masterpiece that takes you on an urgent melodic joyride through modern Britain.
Small Black Arrows and their music will be played on every daytime show on Tameside Radio from 6am on Monday 28th October. The band also joined the team on The Dave Sweetmore Show last Monday night, 21st October, you can listen again via the OnDemand section of the website.
