New Music: M. Woodroe – Fog of War

The thrilling Fog of War by M. Woodroe is a raw, rock-infused taster for the Small Pond Presents: Emerging Vol. V compilation.

The band says that the song began “as a phone recording of the guitar riff,” and that no doubt contributes to the wiry, crackling energy of the vocals. The production is dense to the point of almost being oppressive but still brings through the layers and themes within the individual performances.

It’s an anthem in reverse, rousing but not emptily uplifting, as momentary glances at indie and post-punk break through the grunge-like feel of Fog of War. Think Muse or Placebo, given extra voltage from a vocal line similar to Carla Chubb, then you’ll get a flavour of what the band has achieved here.  

Says the band about recording the song, Recording at Small Pond with Ben (Williams, engineer) was so valuable and really fun because, just like the writing process, it involved a lot of experimentation and trial and error with amps, hardware effects, and routing. At any point of the recording, we weren’t too sure what we’d do next, which added to the excited feeling you can hear in the song.”

There is a workshop by Sarah Maynard and performances by some of the bands on the compilation, including M. Woodroe, at the Green Door Store in Brighton on the 15th of November to mark the record’s release the day before.

The vinyl version of the album can be pre-ordered on Bandcamp. M. Woodroe’s 2024 soundtrack album Dead Body can be heard on Bandcamp – head to their Instagram for more listening options.

Small Pond’s Emerging project is giving 20 talented young acts, aged 16-25, in Brighton, Crawley, and surrounding areas, the opportunity to rehearse, record and release their music via Small Pond’s studio, label and marketing setup and has been awarded funding from Arts Council England.