PRAISE FOR BARD-ROCK QUARTET 'IN CROOKED WONDERMENT' AND THEIR BESPOKE BLEND OF MEDIEVAL FANTASY AND MESMERISING MUSIC

Info provided by Conor Price of ICW | Photo Credit: Isaac Pragnell

If you're like me and spend a good couple of hours doomscrolling TikTok each night, you'll be familiar with the phrase 'I built this fyp brick by brick' and, oh boy, it's never been more true than the moment the algorithm brought me to witness In Crooked Wonderment. BUT, before you go running to search for them, I beg you - go straight to Spotify, Apple Music or Youtube and instead witness the entirity of Burn The Heretic free from splicing and cuts and edits, because this song has haunted me for days.

Alongside their EP, King, In Crooked Wonderment have already crafted a collective story of unbound power, vengeance in blood and broken crowns, and Burn The Heretic takes all of these unique, clever flavours and builds them into a piece that grips you hard. It got added straight to my writing playlist and I hope In Crooked Wonderment know that they have crafted a song so mesmerising it's become a hallmark of my own creative process.

And, for all those Witcher fans out there, you'll be delighted to know that the craft of this band and their music is heavily influenced by Joey Batey's (Jaskier) own bardic band, The Amazing Devil. Batey, along with Madeleine Hyland, have devised some truly wondrous and emotive pieces - most namely, The Horror and The Wild - and to know In Crooked Wonderment have unfolded their wings in the wake of The Amazing Devil's work, it's clear that this quartet are not only deliciously inspired, but also eager to divine their own flair of bardic rock.

Thanks to frontman Conor Price, here's a little peek behind the curtain of who In Crooked Wonderment are...

Photo Credit: Isaac Pragnell

“This band emerged from a love of Gothic pop culture, a love of fantasy and a background in metal & rock music. The surface level mission of this band is to make music with the narrative heavy lyrics and nuance of bardic folk music whilst pairing that with the hard hitting and energetic sounds of the rock and metal world. We want our music to have just as much focus on narrative, world-building and escapism as a blockbuster motion picture or classical novel.”

“The number one Inspiration and influence for this band in terms of pure feel and atmosphere is the music of a band called The Amazing Devil. Their focus on story and world-building to the backdrop of alternative folk sparked something in me that said it was possible to make music that is rich in theatricality, escapism and epic folktales and characters. I am a huge fan of heavy, emo, alt music and I sought a way to mix that world of music with alt folk to attempt to make this otherworldly and whimsical gothic bard quartet that I now play music with. As time has passed and as this band has grown, we have drawn inspiration from other bands such as Palaye Royale, Creeper and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds”

 “Our live shows are what you expect from a band, yes we do play our songs live but we believe that what takes our live shows a step further is our background as actors and theatre-makers who have performed in various plays both in independent venues & The Royal Shakespeare Company. Our background as actors allows us to turn our band shows into dark gothic bard shows where we are all appearing as characters we have created, each one fuelled by a backstory that every individual member of the band has written up themselves and that is also inserted into the lyrical content of our music to add to the overarching storyline that spans the entire discography of In Crooked Wonderment”

Additional comment from the band's photographer, Isaac Pragnell:

“Being part of the In Crooked Wonderment collective as their photographer is nothing short of special. Getting to capture their offer of escapism to the audience is something truly wonderful. My favourite part of the night is everyone coming up to the band after a gig with comments such as “this is nothing like we’ve seen before” or “I didn’t know what to expect, but it wasn’t that”. There really isn’t anyone else like In Crooked Wonderment. A lot of bands have the same heart, energy and showmanship but In Crooked Wonderment really brings something different that you can’t quite put your finger on. It’s a pleasure and a privilege to be their photographer, seeing it all slowly grow from Conor creating songs in GarageBand in his bedroom to playing venues with a collective of talented musicians. I can’t wait to see how this grows, and I can’t wait to capture all the moments that lay before them”

The more you listen to In Crooked Wonderment, the more involved and personal it feels. Throughout King, the interruption of airy flutes, soft breaths and background chatter truly lends to a feel of being in a bustling marketplace in a high-walled city. And, once again, I cannot understate my love for Burn The Heretic - the marketing that went into this song was perfect, and landed it right onto my FYP when I didn't even know I was looking for it. The lull of voices fading away to make way for Conor's exceptional vocals, the building power of the song, the melancholy that descends into madness... truly fantastic work by this group.

And, of all the songs I've been listening to recently, none have been more deserving of a commemorative tattoo than the line: 'The Devil told me I'm his favourite still'.

Stream In Crooked Wonderment on:

Spotify / Apple Music / Soundcloud

Find more In Crooked Wonderment content on:

Youtube / Tiktok / Instagram