‘Twas a winter’s evening, and we made the pilgrimage to Ye Olde Portland Arms. It was frankly freezing, incongruous and wrong for the energy of the band we were about to hear. The first seasonal associations with Tapir! are neither cold nor ice. Their distinctly warm sound is what drew me to the band last summer (thanks to the So Young magazine playlist!) when they released their album The Pilgrim, Their God and the King of Decrepit Mountain. With swelling group vocals, serene horns, and a sense of complete carefree euphoria, the self-proclaimed “6 stupid ugly idiot smelly pigs” lit up the cold of the November evening.

Taking to the stage first was Fran Lusty, a support singer whom I had not encountered before. Her voice pleasantly radiated the warmth of a childhood spent in the Cambridge countryside. With lyrics about being fed up with brothers, encounters with ghosts, and fields of wildflowers, strummed clearly on an acoustic guitar, her tender, nature-inspired sound proved an ideal prelude to Tapir!.

“Tapir! drew a miraculously diverse crowd of all ages”

Emerging originally from South London, Tapir! rose to fame with their debut single On a Grassy Knoll, We Bow Together, featured on their EP Act 1, followed shortly by Act 2 in the summer of 2023. Signed to one of the original indie giants, Heavenly Recordings, the band share a roster with labelmates such as The Orielles, Katy J. Pearson, and KNEECAP. Gracing Cambridge with their presence, Tapir! attracted a miraculously diverse crowd of all ages.  

Their theatrical approach to releasing music unfolds like a script, with intervals of spoken verse that set the scene for the songs composing their acts. Whether following nonsensically speaking birds “into the nether” or chanting intricate anti-consumerist lyrics, Tapir!’s idiosyncratic storytelling style populates England with mythical, rare characters driven by a human instinct to travel. The longing to reconnect with nature is underscored by the sound of crashing waves, the cawing of gulls, and reflections on the "strange old world" of Albion.  

Their performance provided a fitting interlude to my term studying Medieval Literature. Quests and knights feel at home in Tapir!’s world of the Pilgrim. As the band walked through the crowd to reach the stage, they created an instant sense of community among the audience. Swaying and singing along, it felt as though we had all donned their iconic red papier-mâché hats (a nod to their lyrical character, the pilgrim swallow) and set off together on a trek through the English landscape.  

The night was made even more memorable as it coincided with lead singer Ike Gray’s birthday. We sang to him as a helium balloon drifted towards the back of the venue, a whimsical touch to an already magical evening.

“Tapir!’s performance of this song was their most refined yet, with their music soaring like the swallow of their subject matter”

What I love most about Tapir!’s music is their bizarre and brilliant world-building. They breathe new life into a resurging folk sound, infusing it with whimsy and warmth. Elements and aesthetics of English folklore have gained popularity online recently, championed by curators like Lally Macbeth (founder of @thefolkarchive), printed zines such as Weird Walk, and TV shows like Detectorists and Charlie Cooper’s Myth Country. This renewed fascination with documenting the strange and wonderful traditions of England intersects beautifully with Tapir!’s unique folkloric creations, vividly constructed in their songs.

I can’t get enough of this band. Seeing them perform and evolve with each show is a joy. I first saw them live, packed into The Hope and Ruin back in March, and again at an Aid for Palestine gig in Brighton, sharing the stage with friends Ugly and Black Country, New Road. It was there that I first heard the then-unreleased ‘Nail in a Wooden Trunk’. Closing their set at The Portland Arms, this track has since become a fan favourite, with its intensely catchy “1-2-1-2-3” opening refrain and intricate finger-picked guitar. Accompanied by images of initials scratched into trees, the song’s heartfelt lyrics address a miscommunicating lover: “Do you wanna be on the same team? Or do you wanna play the game?” Led by Ike Gray’s soaring vocals, Tapir!’s performance of this song was their most refined yet, with their music soaring like the swallow of their subject matter.

It was a thrill to see them again in Cambridge. Tapir! is my favourite band in a long time. Their music, rooted in themes of belonging and folklore, carries a coastal kind of nostalgia that reminds me of my hometown by the sea. Listening to tracks like ‘Broken Ark’ and ‘Eidolon’ from Act 2, I couldn’t help but picture Henri Rousseau’s Storm-Tossed Vessel, with rolling seas rendered as theatrical set props. Melancholically nostalgic, these songs are like vivid, theatrical moments of calm within the storm.

So, this Christmas, escape the rat race: knit a striped scarf, savour the peace, and immerse yourself in Tapir!’s wonderfully weird world. After all, “It’s your imagination that you found, again”.