award-winning duo described as the best thing since a girl picked up a guitar, Melfish employ beautifully delicate vocals to deliver inventive and intelligent lyrics over a base of gorgeous guitar lines. Melfish are a true breath of fresh air to your ears

12 MP3 Songs
FOLK: Angry, ROCK: Modern Rock



Details:
'This delightful album was handed to me by Mel Baxter, one half of Sheffield-based female duo Melfish, who along with her musical partner Vicki Workman, are regulars on the cities live music scene.
To say its impressive is something of an understatement as this is one of the most enchanting and refreshing albums I've heard in a very long time.
Its simplicity is its greatest strength with Mel Baxter's beautifully delicate vocals delivering her inventive and intelligent lyrics over a mainly acoustic base in an intoxicating variety of styles.
The Eastern themes of No Fear and the heavier riffs of Spin Out catch the ear but each and every track has something different to offer and make this album a real breath of fresh air.'
Steve Ward, Classic Rock Society, May 2005


'For want of a better adjective the songs are sexy, balanced on the tip of desire before action becomes irrevocable.' Sandman Magazine, 2005


Praise for 'Swimming'

'As anyone who ever saw Melfish would expect, it's beautiful acoustic guitarwork and great female-slanted lyrics, mixed with backing vocals and sparse electric guitar too, which entwines with its acoustic counterpart brilliantly. Mel's voice is great, delicate for the most, but strong and soaring when needs be.'(Sheffield Star, April 2005)

With an album just ready to come out, Mel Baxter and longtime guitar buddy Vic Workman roadtest some of the songs in the intimacy of this central Sheffield bar.
The 25-year-old, who has been writing and recording for 12 years, is a regular on the live circuit - and the four songs on the demo she sent us suggest intelligent lyrics and a simple style which should translate well given the right sensitive production. Paper Lantern contains one of several fine lines delivered in breathy vocal: "This guitar made sense of me but made a fool of you"
Little Box reminds me a little of the indigo girls while Get To Me is an example of a wistful tune which groes while Bulletproof is pretty.
Mel, who plays guitar and takes the lead vocal, and Vic (guitars, backing vocal) met at university where both were studying Popular Music.
David Dunn, Sheffield Star, Sunday 29 Jan 2005

Mel launches debut album

Melfish is Melanie Kate Baxter who sings and plays acoustic guitar. Normally she is joined by Vicki Workman - they met at university on a Popular Music degree - who Mel describes as "a female Hendrix"
Vicki is in London at the moment. But she does play on Mel's 12-track debut album which is being launched at Trippets Wine Bar on Trippet Lane on Sunday. Mel is 25 and has been writing and recording for 12 years. She describes the music as a diverse mixture of rock-inspired country, grunge, folk and new acoustic movement with influences including PJ Harvey, Throwing Muses, Beth Orton and Tracy Chapman.
The songs tend towards the darker side of things. They include Paper Lantern, the chorus for example: She's a paper lantern, she could go up any time. She's a sulphur match-tip, with a volatile mind. She's a teenage girl, with a torch in her hand, she's gonna burn you down to the ground.
Mel sings the lines with such a sweet malevolence and a breathtaking voice that you are immediately drawn in. Little Box starts with: Her secret, is a loud, dark and shaded thing, and moves onto, She's screaming so quietly. Get To Me and Bulletproof head more towards the abstract: 'you carried a girl twice your size in your hand', 'the girl who hated waterfalls' and, 'she left a piece of herself alive in his head'.
It's all beautiful stuff, if a little bit despairing at times.
Martin Lilleker, Sheffield Telegraph 28/02/05


Praise for Melfish EP, 'Minnow Songs'

'Stripped down songs of temptation, yearning and seduction, both as seducer and seduced. This is a lovely CD. Reminiscent of PJHarvey's demo album of 'Rid of Me' in its sparse instrumentation - simple acoustic guitar occasionally overlaid with distorted, grinding electric - but with more of the spirit of a Beth Orton, gentler, less disturbed.'(Sandman Magazine, april 2003)