You can pre-order the album' on white vinyl, black vinyl or CD here
Ralfe Band's fourth studio album "Achilles Was a Hound Dog" is a masterclass of songcraft, drawning on experiences from band leader Oly Ralfe's recent past. "For me, these songs are almost like an abstract diary where reality, memories and dreamlike narratives collide". The last few years have seen Oly Ralfe branch out musically, with his acclaimed solo instrumental record Notes From Another Sea from 2018, a collection of plaintive and intimate piano compositions, as well as well as the Live at St Pancras Old Church album from 2020, featuring Ralfe's solo piano with classical ensemble. While Oxford-based Ralfe has never stopped writing or creating, it's now been ten years since Ralfe Band's last long player, "Son Be Wise" from 2023, punctuated by the rowdy one-off single "Sweating It Out", from 2019.
A new Ralfe Band album in 2023 feels like a boon. The ten new songs and instrumentals are Ralfe's strongest to date, offering us a glimpse into his world, with enticing sojourns into the surreal, like on album opener "Pale Fire". "Achilles Was a Hound Dog features the regular Ralfe Band musicians and friends of Oly Ralfe appear as special guests too, Ben Nichols (Nadine Shah), Gabriella Swallow (Richard Hawley), Harry Deacon (Palace) or Rob Ellis (PJ Harvey). Providing a further dimension is vocalist Emma Faulkner, who acts as a foil to Ralfe throughout, sometimes emboying the protagonist's auditory conscience.
It is the most musically diverse Ralfe Band album to date, where baroque pop, indie noir, new wave and wonky jazz coalesce within a landscape of charming cohesion, a stunning musical melange that's complemented by the striking, abstract album cover, painted by Ralfe himself.
