DOUGA

Manchester

Douga is a band based in Manchester, formed by multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Johnny Winbolt-Lewis. Douga have grown from wide-eyed, exploratory experimentalists to become a BBC 6 Music-featured act, who have now created a record gripped with a gentle but firm sense of cohesion and clarity. The group have built their album on the foundations of Johnny’s love of kosmische music, through rhythmic repetition and psychedelic drones. "Douga serve up a mind-melting blend of traditional songwriting and endless, restless experimentation" City Life "There is an enigmatic beauty in the compositions Douga make with beautiful orchestrations which live and breathe alongside distortions and more aggressive arrangements" http://stipe07.blogs.sapo.pt/douga-the-silent-well-510451 "Psych-flecked Americana from Manchester" http://www.clashmusic.com/news/premiere-douga-partly "Douga produce eerie atmospheric indie which exhibits a dreamy quality...[Mono No Aware] An utterly beautiful collection of songs from a frankly lovable band" http://barrygruff.wordpress.com "Douga consistently reinvent themselves....perhaps the closest reference point I can give you here is that of Syd Arthur, who are similarly uncategorisable, and I mean that in a good way." http://www.godisinthetvzine.co.uk/2017/12/11/douga-hidden-tapes-golden-tide-make-merge/ "Combining elements of Americana, psychedelia and an unmistakable tinge of Manchester grit, Douga go to great lengths to get their sound just right." http://www.forfolkssake.com/news/36388/exclusive-album-stream-douga-hidden-tapes-and-the-golden-tide "charming, chiming and occasionally unpredictable jams with clever lo-fi pop twists and understated arrangements." http://www.thisistruluv.com/douga-kids-tomorrow/ "Nuanced, intelligent and ambitious" http://www.whisperinandhollerin.com/reviews/review.asp?id=11204 "rich in sonic textures and psychedelic influences" http://www.ameliasmagazine.com/music/the-silent-well-an-interview-with-douga/2014/06/30/ "the debut record by Douga is a minor scale gem. By turns gentle, languid, distorted, and psychedelic, The Silent Well will remind listeners of bands like Yo La Tengo, and feels like a trip into a haze of psych-rock bliss." http://symbioticreviews.com/2014/07/17/symbiotic-recommends-10-albums-june-2014/ "Douga are a band for musicians and real music lovers. They’re no “flash in the pan” indie act with their debut feeling like a solid statement going forward. We look forward to hearing more from these guys." http://www.thevinyldistrict.com/uk/2014/04/uk-artist-week-douga/ "The songs are brilliantly conceived, with pretty melodies and seductive chords, the rhythm section is as fine as any you’ll see and the beautiful washes of delayed noise and dreamy psych that bookend each song are the key ingredient that turn this band into the top-notch entertainers that they are. It’s aesthetically comparable to ‘A Storm In Heaven’-era Verve, but there’s something new here too. Go find em." http://dbhmusic.wordpress.com/page/2/ "It’s hard to say exactly what sort of music Douga make, and if this is not necessarily by design, it’s no real accident either. Former Plank! drummer Johnny Winbolt-Lewis has formed this foursome of like-minded experimentalists to explore his love of kosmiche music and sonic textures, with some intriguing results" http://www.forfolkssake.com/song-of-the-day/28006/447-douga-blue-is-nothing "Their melancholy and smouldering output seems to fit into the Neil Young territory, somewhere between After the Goldrush and before Like a Hurricane" http://www.manchestermusic.co.uk/live/archivelive.asp?item=2144