Mandy RogersBelfast duo New Portals are an up-and-coming new band who over recent months have been working up to the release of their debut EP. And who have been simmering away and blossoming with each new step they make.
Feeling that New Portals were going to drop an absolute corker of a track sooner or later, I’ve bided my time in writing about them. They’ve given me all the reason I’ve wanted to call them out and write up some glowing words about them with the arrival of “Stereo”.
The song isn’t typical of New Portals, who tend to involve themselves in the alternative side of electronic pop making. And in listening to the duo it has struck me for the most part, that here is a band who are refining their style, sound and direction in which to take themselves forward. However, injecting a dose of pop into the New Portals sound mix feels a right move to be making when it comes together, all springy with quirky beats and shaking its groove thang in such an enticing audiolicious manner, as this is.
The supporting video is an endearingly creditable all DIY affair, where frontwoman Ruth Aicken goes out for a stroll into nearby woodland and pop’s some move. As you do when you’re in the first flush of teenage love. So the song “Stereo” is keen to point out anyway. This kind of video is actually a great reflection of an emerging band who are working from the ground up to achieve a greater level of notice.
I hope New Portals explore this quirky realm of electronic bop making further, as to my mind it suits them best of all.