Listen to the Sound of Sirens in Leeds

Ahead of the anticipated release of ‘For All Our Sins’, Exeter-based duo Abbe Martin and Hannah Wood are hitting the road and can be seen in Leeds at the Brudenell Social Club on Thursday, May 18.

Expect to hear harmonies and two voices that can raise you from the temporal to the spiritual in the breath of a song and set you floating among the firmament infused with a sense of wonder.

Abbe and Hannah dovetail beautifully on their first album, a beguiling acoustic pop collection replete with lyrical sensibility.

Already championed by Chris Evans – who declared himself “blown away” when he heard Sound of the Sirens for the first time, and subsequently invited them to perform alongside U2 and Take That on TFI Friday last year – they’re certain to broaden a burgeoning fan base on the back of ‘For All Our Sins’.

It’s a fan base built up not just over several sublime EP releases – but also through their live shows, which combine a natural facility for connecting with their audiences and unforgettable performances predicated on energy, warmth, humour and, above all, real conviction.

“We work well together,” says Abbe, a graduate of Dartington College of Arts, who’s now a vocal coach and drama practitioner for vocal arts.

“We have fun and a shared vision of what we want our music to do and how we want it to influence people. Music moves people and can help people overcome adversity. As performers we have a responsibility to write music that will impact and not offend. If people are listening to your voice, use it wisely.”

Drawing on diverse influences, including Bob Dylan, Ed Sheeran, Joni Mitchell, KT Tunstall, The Carpenters, Abbe and Hannah write from a personal experience they feel others can relate to.

“We can also be quite inventive in our writing, using different text games to create a stimulus from which to write,” says Hannah.

“We definitely put our emotion into our music and publicly vent. We often put a positive spin on the sadness that life can bring, finding strength in doing so and hopefully helping others to deal with the same issues.”