9 Maps High Incline Untitled Entertainment
High Incline is the debut offering from the Hong Kong indie scene's newest darlings 9 Maps, who have won over their contemporaries and audiences alike with a sweet brand of folk rock.
Proudly conceived and recorded locally, the result is a refreshingly honest journey though emotions and melodies, documenting loss, love and bittersweet misery.
They have resisted the temptation to overproduce, and 9 Maps' esoteric acoustic instrumentation allows the strength of melody and atmosphere to paint all the pictures they require.
9 Maps are backed by Hong Kong's percussive stalwart, Gabe Andre, while songwriting and singing duties are split between Ciosa Houlihan and Sherin Siew. Building on Andre's subtle but solid rhythms are Houlihan's delicate guitar work, trading melodies with Siew's powerful piano and bass lines.
From the marching country rhythm of title track to the slow waltz of 4 Walls, from the jazz nuances of Ropes to the slower atmospheric ballads Harder Times and I Hope You Knew, 9 Maps have produced an album that incorporates many influences while still maintaining a distinctive and almost conceptual identity.
