Portico Quartet are Jack Wyllie (sax and loops), Milo Fitzpatrick (double bass), Nick Mulvey (Hang) and Duncan Bellamy (drums and Hang), four young musicians from East London who started a band together after the chance purchase of a ‘hang’ at a music festival in 2005.

In just a few years Portico Quartet’s hypnotic music has taken them from busking on London’s South Bank, to a Mercury Prize nomination, to performing at the Royal Opera House (with support from Wiley and Chipmunk) on September 5th and recording at Abbey Road with producer John Leckie. Famed as a nurturer of young bands (Stone Roses, Radio Head etc), Leckie has brought a powerful clarity to the band’s music and Isla is a darker, more mature, expansive statement than their debut, Knee-Deep In The North Sea. However, it is still very much a Portico Quartet album.

On Isla, Portico Quartet, have added loop pedals, real-time electronics and strings arranged by the band’s bassist Milo Fitzpatrick. However, the majority of the album was recorded live at Abbey Road (with one piece recorded in their shed!) and each of the nine tracks has a distinct mood and atmosphere, while remaining firmly within their unique soundworld. From the churning maelstrom of Clipper to the pounding pedal points of Dawn Patrol; from the fragile ostinatos of Line to the anthemic ensemble of the title track, Isla is an album whose contents reveal fresh nuances and facets on each listen.

Isla will be launched with a national tour commencing on Oct 24th at the Bristol Old Vic and taking in dates in London (Koko), Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh etc with support from Mercury nominated Sweet Billy Pilgrim. The boys have decided to warm up for this tour with a rural tour of Somerset villages! Full details attached.

Portico Quartet will aso feature in the The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special, being directed by Morgan Spurlock (30 Days, Super Size Me).