The Apex Singers are a group of extremely talented young vocalists, all alumni of The Royal Northern College Of Music in Manchester, who have formed this a capella close harmony group.
Their latest offering, released as a single last Friday, and as a video (available to watch on Youtube) today, is an original and incredibly beautiful treatment of the Spiritual, 'The Wayfaring Stranger'.
The one thing that amazes me about this group (I've listened to all their YouTube releases now!) is the absolute clarity of phrase, the crystal clear diction, and the sheer intensity of their performance.
Close Harmony singing is by no means a new thing, and yet, it seems to have fallen out of fashion a little. We no longer hear of Barbershop Quartets or listen to the pop charts having groups like 'The Four Aces' or 'The Andrews Sisters'. The Apex Singers could all too easily have decided to have trod that path too, following perhaps in the footsteps of The Manhattan Transfer; but no, there is yet one more thing which singles this group out - and that is they sing a capella: ie; unaccompanied. using only their own voices to fill in all the intricate harmonies; and there are times when the soundscape is so full that it does sound like the singer/s are accompanied by musicians, but that is the mastery of their technique and nothing more. And in so doing, and keeping their music more "classical", is completely to their credit.
Listening as I did to this song today of all days, 11th November, it was perhaps a little more poignant than at any other time, but nevertheless, this was a remarkable piece of musical arrangement sung with passion, dedication and skill. I look forward to a time when they will be able to perform live and I'll be first in the queue to grab a front row seat!
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 11/11/20
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