an escape plan – living together.

Some time ago I wrote a post about finding brilliant tracks through their use in tv-shows and occasionally in adverts. Well, it’s happened again. Coming scarily close to overtaking their cats advert as my favourite IKEA advert ever (yes, I rank IKEA adverts separately from all other adverts), the Swedish flat-packed furniture people have put together a video that makes tidying-up look like the most emotional and heartfelt activity ever. It’s put together beautifully and soundtracked by the brilliant An Escape Plan.

Whilst the band spent seven years putting together their debut album Songs of Scarecrows, which was released in December 2012, they wasted no time in producing the Living Together EP, released earlier this year in conjunction with the IKEA advertising campaign. The EP features both the full and radio edit versions of the BeeGees cover track, along with the previously unreleased Hum Along and the album track The Shipping News. Although the Northampton band have been together for sometime, their exposure has been relatively limited until now. Their beautiful and seemingly unrecognisable cover of a 1970s disco track has since received attention from the likes of Q Maganzine and The Huffington Post. Whilst I don’t want to spend time discussing the merits of television advertising for upcoming bands, An Escape Plan seemed to have hit the mark with this particular campaign. On YouTube alone the video has surpassed 750,000 views. Add that to the potential millions of views during actual television airtime – that’s the kind of exposure most emerging bands can only dream of. An Escape Plan are seemingly talented enough to benefit from this type of campaign – their track doesn’t fade into the background, coming second to lure of new stylish shelving units – it remains the focus of the advert throughout whilst complimenting IKEA’s latest flat-packed contributions.

The EP acts as a perfect introduction to the band. Living Together draws you in with its delicate vocals and haunting piano, building steadily until its full depth is realised. Of all their songs, the vocal combination in Living Together seems the most accomplished – making the most of Kate Williams’ soulful range against Craig Brown’s understated, melancholy sound.
Living Together follows the same sort of pattern as The Shipping News – lulling you into a sense of calm before coming to a crashing conclusion. In fact, the band describe themselves on their Facebook page as “Quiet then loud. Melody is used. Emotional wipeout achieved.” Which is quite apt really. The Shipping News remains my favourite track on Songs of Scarecrows. Craig Brown’s vocals sound almost as though he’s whispering in your ear, sharing a secret meant only for you. It complements Living Together, where Brown provides the secondary vocals, letting Williams take the lead. Their different vocal styles work best combined together – Williams provides the emotion and soul, with Brown providing the subtle undertones. The Shipping News is a great track, making the most of an indie guitar riff with crashing percussion.

There’s something special about this band. The time and care taken on their debut album Songs of Scarecrows is evident throughout, but the impact they make in three songs on the Living Together EP is phenomenal. If it’s any indication of things to come then I wouldn’t be surprised to see An Escape Plan following in the footsteps of bands like Stornoway, Dry The River, Warpaint and Kodaline to appear on the BBC’s Sound Of… list by the end of the year.

The Living Together EP is available to download on iTunes now, as is the album Songs of Scarecrows. You can also buy a physical copy of the album here.

An Escape Plan – Living Together

An Escape Plan – The Shipping News

Songs of Scarecrows is available on Spotify, but under the band name “Escape Plan”.