Maple Leaves: Twee Will Rock You

Twee: a word which packs an incredible punch in certain musical circles. Whether that punch is one to the pus of the purveyor or to the ears of the listener depends on the quality of the tunes being pedalled (girl with ukulele and owl-patterned woolly jumper: I’m looking at you.) Thankfully, Glasgow’s Maple Leaves remain as yet unbattered.

“To the uninitiated, I would probably describe our music as melodic, literate, indie-pop,” vocalist Anna Miles says. “I know a lot of people in bands who are bothered about the twee-pop label, but it doesn't bother me hugely. We all love great storytellers and melody makers like Magnetic Fields, Joni Mitchell, The Shins, Sufjan Stevens and Jens Lekman.”

The three-piece, made up of Miles (a Geordie who moved to Glasgow a few years ago) and Julian Corrie (a Surrey lad better known to some of us as Miaoux Miaoux) concurrently on vocals, piano and guitar and Graeme Thomson on drums, released their first EP, Golden Ether, on Glasgow’s Bubblegum Records last month.

Produced by the steady hands of Jamie Savage at Chem 19, the former T Break band were more than pleased with the outcome.

“We experimented with various extra instruments on the record, from Wurlitzers to accordions,” says Anna. “There's always something cool lying about you can try, and they're always open to suggestions about how to add an extra layer you'd never have thought of before.”

The halls of Chem 19 are not the only piece of Scottish music history now associated with Maple Leaves – Godfather of Twee, Stuart Murdoch, had also offered his stamp of approval within a year of the trio’s formation.

“Stuart first contacted me to be a part of God Help The Girl after coming across our demo for our first song,” Miles explains. “He asked me to come and audition for one of the tracks, as he really loved our demo. I love Belle and Sebastian and Stuart has been kind enough to give me some feedback on our songs, which has been really helpful. He is always very positive and supportive.”

So supportive that the video for Golden Ether’s title track was made by Murdoch’s documentary film-maker wife, Marisa Privitera and was similarly wholesome.

“It was quite odd walking down the road singing to myself and throwing paper planes. We're really happy with the video though and have had some nice comments, especially about Julian's Saturday telly style jumper. He has quite a range of them.”

Okay, so they do wear snazzy jumpers, but with songs this warming we’ll let them off. To find out more about Maple Leaves and their potentially woolly range of merchandise, check out their upcoming shows, of which Miles promises there will be many.

“We're going to get writing and recording for what we hope will become our first album as well,” beams Anna of their plans for 2011. “We have enough material for one now so it's just working out plans for getting into the studio. Exciting times!”