‘The Winter Tyres’ is a five-piece acoustic pop band based in Belgium, that came into existence when Brian Bordello (The Bordellos) found a battered C60 cassette down the back of the sofa, that he’d made aeons ago entitled “Songs For a Girl to Sing”. These songs were sent to his old friend Claire Wilcock, and The Winter Tyres was formed to finally bring them into existence. Since then, the Anglo/Belgian/Spanish quintet have written their own compositions and they make up their new six track mini album ‘Holding Hands in Public’. The sound is unashamedly melodic, melancholic and nostalgic – in a soft-focus way rather than citing any past genre – and evokes bittersweet first-love heartbreak and endless sunny days, aided and abetted by the haunting plaintive flute and occasional melodica. Wilcock’s lyrics relate crushed affections, affectionate crushes and unrealised dreams, over a backwash of acoustic guitar, bass, glockenspiel and percussion. The overall effect is like riding on your childhood sweetheart’s handlebars through a cornfield, and as warming as the late afternoon pastoral sun.