Hot Press / Made From Sand

While nobody was looking, a silent revolution happened in the Irish music scene. Out of the singer-songwriter pact and shoegazing electronic posse, a cross breed sprang up, and among these wonderful mongrels are Cane 141, Random, The Tycho Brahe and Automata. At the centre of this accident of cross-fertilisation were Alphastates, a prototype of sorts.

Despite their healthy live presence, a rather unjust fate had befallen Alphastates, where success has seemed to be always just around the corner, slightly out of reach. They have been on the edge of the action for quite some time, eliciting neither feverish acclaim nor big advances. All that looks set to change. Buckle up kids, and get ready to embrace your new favourite band.

The first string to their well-crafted bow is the startlingly unique vocal style of Catherine Dowling. Delivered in a strangely emotional and engaging, yet nonchalant way, Dowlings vocals are breathy, catching in her throat as she delivers knowing and worldly tales about kissing girls and the like. It's as sexy as fuck.

Add to that a multi-layered, delicately creative and innovative musical backdrop, and we're really talking about something special. Addicted and Sometimes are both prime slices of accessible, lovingly crafted indie pop, and Good Stuff, as all great songs are wont to do, sticks in the head long after you've switched off the stereo. One small step for Catherine Dowling and her cohorts, then ... one giant leap - in the right direction - into a new dawn for the Dublin music scene.

Alternative Ulster / Made From Sand / from an article by Edwin McFee

Currently presiding over the Dublin Music Scene, light years ahead of their peers, Alphastates are a tricky bunch to pin down. Not quite electronica, not quite alt rock; Alphastates are big on hooks and melody...

... the band decided to record their debut record between a studio in France and a less glamorous studio in Catherine's house. The resulting longplayer, Made From Sand, is perhaps the freshest, most vital Irish release in an age. While contemporaries such as The Thrills are a full-blown retro-outfit, Alphastates have their eyes fixed firmly on the future and that future looks very bright indeed.

Irish Independent / Made From Sand

While Alphastates do pop, it's of the avant-garde, leftfield variety. Anybody utterly bored with the proliferation of singer-songwriters and garage bands will take comfort in the fact that Alphastates sound completely different. Led by Catherine Dowling - whose distinctive vocals call Beth Gibbons and Liz Fraser to mind - the band has been attracting a critical thumbs-up thanks to their meticulously crafted electronica and a strong melodic sensibility.

Recorded in Black Box studios, France and produced by former band member Karl Odlum, Made From Sand is one of the more accomplished Irish Debuts in recent years. It's the small details, like a choice drum loop, that make songs such as Addicted, Sometimes and Good Stuff so rewarding. Best of all, though, is Kiss Me, whose swirling melodrama sounds like a great lost Portishead track.

Entertainment.ie / Made From Sand

With the release of this excellent debut album, their time has finally come. Disdaining the acoustic introspection of most of their contemporaries, the youthful quartet specialise in a cool, brooding electronica that recalls such other sophisticated female-fronted acts as Dubstar and Saint Etienne. What really lingers in the memory, however, is the voice of singer Catherine Dowling - breathy, vulnerable and disarmingly sexy. Her oblique lyrics mean that you may not know what she's on about half the time, but one listen to those hushed tones should be enough to get every red-blooded male trembling at the knees. Given half a chance, this beguiling album will creep slowly under your skin and start to dominate your thoughts. Why not let it?

Cluas.com / Made From Sand

The band has produced an album of utterly delightful tunes. On the opening track ‘Round Here’ there is a harmonious and sexy appeal to Catherine Dowling’s vocals. Her distinctive voice dominates each track with Gerry Horan and Stevie Kavanagh mostly playing backup throughout the albums entirety. In contrast to this, songs like ‘Indian Sky’ and ‘What You Are’ stand out due to Horan’s lead guitar and Kavanagh’s bass. It is an album that is well crafted and soaked with pleasing melodies. Its ability to hook will have you reaching for the repeat button, again and again.

The recent single ‘Sometimes’ has a magical feel to it along with ‘Good Stuff’ and ‘Angel Kiss’, where Dowling’s sultry vocals soar. Every track, bar the forty-seven second ‘Belvidere’, has a charming quality that gives the album a satisfactory feel. Alphastates have delivered a great debut album in ‘Made In Sand’. The future looks bright not only for them but also for the Irish music scene. Watch out for them making big waves over the summer months of 2004.

Eclectic Honey / Made From Sand

Alphastates seem to be the indie band, who missed out on the indie revolution, burying their heads in the sand and their instruments until all the melodramatic posing has been finished with. Now it's safe to venture outdoors and spread their picnic of understated, trippy, delicate pop on the lawn and let everyone dig in.

Round Here's gentle hypnotic swing, the shifting tempo of Top of the World and the humdrum danceability of Addicted are all consumed with the same lo-fi pop sensibilities. Catherine Dowling's breathy voice is at times heavenly beautiful and at others, as casual as if she's chatting over a cup of coffee on a rainy bank holiday, which is all part of the joy really. These songs don't always call for vocals that push their way to the front of the crowd, but rather they embody the afterthoughts that hang around in the back of your mind, such as What You Are's recurring doubts or Good Stuff's critical eye.

The latter would be the standout of the album, if not for the hauntingly stripped Kiss Me, or the thrashing rock of closer Angel Kiss which ensures a strong finish. Made from Sand seems to be much more about creating some funky hooks and melodies that are impossible not to be swallowed up by, rather than wallowing in a bedsit crying over spilt milk, or alcohol as the case may be. And sometimes it certainly seems to be the better option, why think about things too much when you can dance?

RTE.ie / Made From Sand

Made From Sand' starts strongly with 'Round Here', 'Addicted' and 'Indian Sky' all early tracks, each one a highlight. Alphastates' ability to incorporate electronic music seamlessly into a mix that will please most ears makes them real contenders.

There is little to trouble the skip button over the first half of the album and, although the hooks are harder to find as the album progresses, the sounds are never less than compelling.

Catherine Dowling is unquestionably the focal point of this group, her breathy vocals giving even the weaker tracks a sense of purpose. Sounding like Beth Gibbons on more than one occasion, comparisons to Portishead are complimentary and justified. The numerous musical influences that inform the music of Alphastates, although wide-ranging, never dilute what is a clearly defined and unique sound.

On the best tunes nothing sounds accidental, the focussed and deliberate way this music is put together being as noteworthy as the songs themselves. An occasional tendency to be overly stylish strangles a good tune, but for the most part all of the post-production flourishes work well.

With a debut of complex and accomplished compositions, Alphastates will continue to add to an audience that takes their music as seriously as they do.

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