Ideal Living

“Tom Waits’ gritty energy but with a gobby British edge” Far Out Magazine

“Blending together the brooding Gothicism of Have A Nice Life and the steely vocals of Opus Kink…a gut-wrenching, desperate shot into the smoke-filled darkness.” So Young Magazine

“fierce and thought-provoking” DIY

“Doomy and gothic, manic and captivating, there really isn’t anything quite like it.” Backseat Mafia

“Love this tune” Deb Grant, (BBC Radio 6 Music)

Following the news that the band will feature on this year's official line-up at The Great Escape festival this May, Brighton Art-Rockers Ideal Living share debut EP This Big House and new single 'March' - out today (7th March), via Crafting Room Recordings (ELLiS·D, SoftTop)

Produced by Ben Hampson (Lambrini Girls, Ditz), The 4-track release serves up a bona fide indie-opera of booming orchestrations and architected storytelling. To be accompanied by a short film and frontman Billy Marsh’s full length debut novel of the same name later this month, the EP explores the power of relationships in helping to navigate the confusions of modernity, and how to cope once these relationships are lost.

Defined by their high-stakes rock ensemble of woodwind, strings and brass - and drawing inspirations from sources as varied as Nick Cave, Classic FM, and John Williams cult 60s novel Stoner, Ideal Living are evidently not one to shy away from ambitious concepts. Following radio/press support from BBC Radio 6Music (Huw Stephens, New Music Fix), Radio X (John Kennedy), So Young, NME (via Lambrini Girls) DIY, Far Out and Backseat Mafia, as well as live dates with The Murder Capital, Egyptian Blue, Opus Kink and The New Eves, heralding the EP’s release is the Dexys-esque blue-eyed soul manoeuvres of new single ‘March’. 

Offering more on the EP as a whole, Billy explains: "I view Ideal Living as a big orchestra. Like when there’s a play on stage and the band is right there in the pit, bringing the story to life through sound. We’ve always tried to approach the music as something quite theatrical and big, always willing to jump between genres and styles. So it made sense to write something that’s a complete story, an indie-opera, if you will…."

A voyaging 4 minute journey through gothic waltzes and careening high-stakes art-rock, ‘Come To Me’ finds Ideal Living whole-heartedly embracing their penchant for dramatic musical storytelling. Produced by Ben Hampson (Lambrini Girls, Ditz) at Agricultural studios, the track narrates an opening chapter in the EP’s wider narrative - to be expanded further with a short film and full-length novel.

Sung from the viewpoint of a nameless narrator, ‘Come to Me’ tells of how their struggles to deal with modern life are tempered when they find that special other who helps them make sense of the human experience, as frontman and band founder Billy Marsh explains:

“Come to Me’ opens our story, and introduces the plot’s two nameless characters. Quoting the novel’s narrator, the track serves as a dramatic monologue, marking the moment where our protagonist has found that special someone who helps them understand the world, who they can come too whether happy or sad, after going too long through life suffering from its chaos”