Xela

by Heather Phares Xela is the brainchild of Manchester, England-based multi-instrumentalist/producer John Twells, the moniker under which he records atmospheric, eclectic, and often dark electronic music. Twells' father was a guitarist and he developed a love of music early on, playing flute and saxophone as a child and moving on to guitar in his teens. After playing in various bands, Twells began making music on his own, finding more inspiration in electronic music than the metal, punk, and indie influences of his previous work. Twells sent out demos of his work, which caught the ear of Metamatics' Lee Norris, who asked him to contribute a track to a compilation and released Xela's 2003 debut mini-album For Frosty Mornings and Summer Nights on the Neo Ouija label. Around that time, Twells began collaborating with Gabriel Morley, aka Logreybeam, as the duo Yasume. 2004 saw the release of Tangled Wool, a collection of love songs that also reintroduced guitars into Twells' music, on City Centre Offices. Two years later, The Dead Sea, a concept album about a ship attacked by zombies, arrived on Twells' own Type label (which also issued releases by Logreybeam and Khonnor). Influenced by prog, sea shanties, Italian horror soundtracks, and noise, the album also featured beautifully grim visuals by artist Matthew Woodson. That year, Yasume's homage to David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti's influence on Twells and Morley, Where We're from the Birds Sing a Pretty Song, was also released.