CONFINEMENT is a theme which reoccurs in the work of Glasgow four-piece Thula Borah. Formed in 2009, they take their name from a news story doing the rounds at the time, about a man in Assam in India who had refused to leave the four walls of his bedroom since the 1960s. Having failed his matriculation exams, he found he couldn’t face the wrath of his mother; soon after he decided he wouldn’t face the world again. Similarly, the cover image of Near Life Experience, the band’s fifth EP, features a beautiful painting by artist Glenn Kennedy of a man in the foetal position nestled in the centre of a cloudy swirl.
“It’s the sense of being kind of incapacitated by too many choices,” explains vocalist/guitarist Lloyd James Fay. “That’s the title of the first track, Analysis Paralysis, and we’re a bit like that as a band. I mean, we had at least four different versions of the font to be used on the cover of the EP. We just couldn’t decide.”
There’s no sense that the band are confined stylistically, however. That opening track, an instrumental over five minutes long, is characterised by a sense of travel, careering and trundling to shimmering crescendos not unlike laser-guided Sheffielders 65daysofstatic. Elsewhere, there are long, hugely-enjoyable forays into post-rock, the searing crunch of 1990s stalwarts Nirvana and Weezer, and, on lead-off singles Confabulation and The Psychopath Test – named for the Jon Ronson book of the same name and with an alternately funny, alternately terrifying video shot at Abercromby Business Centre where the band recorded the EP with engineer Paul McInally at his 45 A-Side Recordings Studios – visits to the pounding haze of shoegaze masters Ride and Swervedriver.
“When we first played, it really was shoegaze all the way,” says Fay with a laugh. “All I can remember is looking at my shoes I was that nervous. I remember looking forward to the day when I wasn’t that nervous any more and I’m finally here. Playing live is just the best thing.”
Near Life Experience is out on January 27 on Kill Jester Records. Thula Borah play Paisley’s Bungalow Bar on January 26 and Inverness Hootananny on February 18. Look out for further gigs at thulaborah.com
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here