Brother Louis Collective

Brother Louis Collective

Brother Louis Collective is a Scottish group that forms in Glasgow in 2006, from student days, around singer-songwriter Louis Abbott. Abbott fronts the band with a strong Scottish accent, and Sarah Hayes provides the second lead vocal with Northumbrian tones. The group later goes by the name Admiral Fallow.

Style and line-up

The band plays orchestral, eccentric indie music that combines voice-and-guitar songs with louder, more turbulent passages. Their arrangements include clarinet, flute and double bass alongside the usual rock line-up, and their live shows range from sparse acoustic pieces such as “Gypsy Girl” to stomping, Wilco-like songs and bursts of white noise. Their lyrics focus on alienation in relationships and youth, delivered with forceful singing and shouting.

Influences and associations

Their influences include Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Elbow, Low, Midlake, the Fence artists and Bright Eyes. Fyfe Dangerfield of Guillemots supports the band early on and asks them to open for Guillemots in Glasgow and Edinburgh on a 2007 Scottish tour.

Activity and recognition

Brother Louis Collective receives a King Tut’s “Your Sound” artist of the month award, appears at Connect festival, and plays headline shows at Live at the Mill in Oran Mor, Glasgow, and The Caves in Edinburgh. At the time of the later recordings, the five-piece line-up is joined live by Gordon from Make Model on guitar and vocals. The band begins recording its first album with Robin, Jo and Jim at Lo-Five Management, which works with acts including Trashcan Sinatras, Jo Mango, Ben TD and El Dog.