Dead Seem Old is a London-based indie/pop project created by London songwriter/artist Thom Wicks.
Wicks’ approach is one of child-like exploration and experimentation, and he often only uses a cheap flamenco guitar and a four-track recorder to demo material.
He wrote the debut single ‘They Won’t Find Us’ in a hotel room while traveling in Indonesia, and recorded the song in collaboration with drummer/producer Javier Weyler (Phil Manzanera/Stereophonics), under the agreement that they wouldn’t use any sound which didn’t evoke either of two of Wicks’ key influences – Grimm fairy tales and 1960s instrumental surf music.
The result of this unlikely aesthetic pairing is a compelling, beautifully layered piece of contemporary guitar pop. Sparse yet deep, familiar yet slightly alien, with a chorus which will lodge itself irrevocably in that special place where memorable choruses end up.
It’s backed with ‘We Used To See Faces’ – airy, glacial, and shimmering with an attention-capturing unease, it’s a track which further announces Wicks’ considerable talent as a writer and arranger. Welcome to the slightly unsettling world of Dead Seem Old – otherness never sounded so good.