The idea of creating pure theatre within a four-minute pop song is something that comes very naturally to Tom ‘Cab’ Davies. The 20-year-old, who, along with 15-year-old sister and TV actor Emma, forms the nucleus of The Incident, thrives on showmanship.
With fanfare, glitz and – quite literally – an open-top car parade, The Incident burst onto the local music scene last year with debut single All The Kiddies Doin’ Drugs. It was lauded by Justin Hawkins of The Darkness. The Piece Hall, equally impressed, promptly put them on at their VIP Live Lounge stage ahead of Pixies, Noel Gallagher and Richard Ashcroft. BBC Introducing also lapped it up, although the perfectly innocent song title (it’s an observation rather than an endorsement) wrong-footed the nervy broadcaster and prevented serious airplay.
We’ve waited a while for the follow-up, second single, but you can see why. Recorded at The Chairworks in Castleford and mastered at Abbey Road Studios in London, Red Flag Ruby has been richly assembled, with passion and painstaking attention to detail.
This is a hallmark of Tom’s approach, it seems. They don’t gig every Friday night or rush-release songs. Everything they work on is astutely considered and executed with new-level, heart-and-soul commitment, be that the recording of a track, the cover art, the video, a live show, or even a piece of social media.
We had the pleasure of doing an interview with Tom last year, over pie and chips in Halifax, when he enthused about the finer detail of film scores and the heightened drama you can muster through a cinematic work.
Tom: “I really respect John Williams, how he builds up melodic motifs. When he was scoring ET, that bit where Elliott flies off with his bike… he’s actually been building that for the entire film, note by note.”
The same assiduous approach to storytelling is very much on display in Red Flag Ruby. The trademark souped-up, rattling-funk piano leads the charge, setting a breathtaking tempo, upon which darkly decadent cabaret and flashy rock histrionics dance and weave. There are classic Freddie Mercury-style breakdowns and crescendos taking in multi-coloured melodrama, sumptuous singalong moments and cathartic wailings. It’s a rollercoaster narrative, packed with emotional spins, perpetually gyrating.
Tom: “It’s like a grand intense and dramatic flight through all the stages of grief you go through after a toxic relationship.”
Red Flag Ruby is brazenly nostalgic in musical style, evoking the spirit of the classic 70s songwriters like Freddie, Elton John and the more esoteric early 70s splices of Brian Wilson. The kind of musicians that embraced the peaks and troughs, relentlessly pursued refinement and constantly set out to challenge and better themselves. Yes, they are ginormous names. But those are, you sense, the intergalactic realms that Tom has set his sights on. The ambition is high and it comes across in the songwriting, the performance, the presentation, the preparation. And it’s all worth it.
The Incident are a definition of quality over quantity. They’ve still barely played a dozen or so gigs and yet the single launch for Red Flag Ruby at The Trades Club sold out in advance. The launch of their debut at The Grayston sold well ahead of time too. They have star power. Catch them when you can, while you can.
Follow The Incident on Insta for gig news, info on new releases and untold fun.
The Incident are:
Tom Cab Davies – Lead vocals, piano
Emma Eise Davies – Lead vocals, guitar
Additional musicians:
Martin Davies – Drums
Andy McKerlie – Guitar
Robbie Freeman – Guitar
Sully Evans – Bass
‘Red Flag Ruby’ credits:
Sleeve art – James Varley and Robyn Hargreaves
Lyrics & music – Tom Cab Davies and Emma Eise Davies
Vocals – Tom Cab Davies & Emma Eise Davies
Piano – Tom Cab Davies
Drums – Martin Davies
Guitars – Andy McKerlie Robbie Freeman, Ed Chrisanthou
Bass – Sully Evans
Cello – Melanie J Chaplin
Violins & Viola – Simon Matthews
Strings written and arranged by Tom Cab Davies
Orchestration – Graham Young
Produced by Tom Cab Davies
Recorded and Mixed by David Watts at The Chairworks, Castleford
Mastered by Oli Morgan at Abbey Road Studios, London
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