[ ClassicalX ] Ringing up at the registers with pure voices of a celestial quartet

All Angels are clearly a singing sensation, albeit one with a slightly more mature audience, writes Julia Molony.

On my way to meet the latest, chart-dominating all female supergroup, I find myself wondering if going under the stage name All Angels might be just a little bit of a burden. Particularly for four university-age hotties whose celestial voices have made them a platinum-selling sensation and a marketing man's wet dream.

Their PR blurb describes them as a classical/ contemporary crossover band which I naturally assumed, before I met the angels, was just a handy shorthand for "one for the grannies".

The girls are upfront about being the kind of band that appeals to a more mature age bracket than most manufactured music ensembles their age. But now that they have gone platinum, sung at the Royal Albert Hall at the Festival of Remembrance (an event broadcast to 10 million television viewers) and been endorsed by Paul McCartney, they aren't complaining. And anyway, they assure me with apparent satisfaction, they are increasingly attracting a younger kind of listener.

Two years into their incarnation as innocent nymphets in evening gowns, and the Angels seem to be wearing their mantle with relative ease. All three of the four that I meet over coffee in London (the youngest, Laura, can't come as she is on head girl duties at school) seem to be preternaturally well-equipped for the role, with their pleasantly posh voices and easy, articulate, interview-friendly manner. Perhaps precocious self-possession and the voice of an angel were among the conditions of the audition process, through which all four girls were selected.

Two of them have been performing professionally since childhood. Daisy made her debut performing in Les Miserables in her native Edinburgh aged nine, and recorded her first album, -- a jazz collection -- at 15. She secured her place at the All Angels audition through contacts she had forged as a solo act. Before All Angels, Charlotte was a stalwart Youth Music Theatre member, and having won a role in Harry Potter, was banking on a theatre career. For Melanie and Laura, being picked for the group was a change of direction as both were getting on at school and had never really considered the possibility of finding themselves on a path to stardom.

"There are pros and cons to it," Melanie says of being part of a manufactured band, and acknowledging that it is, by nature, contrived. The main one being that it allows you to "choose some of the best people", she says, having been sure to say that she doesn't mean to sound boastful.

"When we are singing older music, its good to have people who have all been trained classically, not necessarily a group being based around people being friends with each other," Charlotte chimes in.

There are certain unanimous absolutes in girl bands, regardless of the genre. They are lucky, they say, that they all get on so well. And true, there does seem to be genuine warmth between them. "We all made an effort to get on. Because we were going to be working so closely we knew there was no room for egos," says Charlotte.

They've found different ways of coping with a hectic schedule while also trying to juggle A-Levels and social lives. At the moment, Melanie, Charlotte and Daisy are all on a gap year (Laura has just finished her exams), and have managed to fit in some normal, age-appropriate pursuits.

"Yesterday we went to a concert and we were playing football before, in our high heels, to relax," says Charlotte.

After this interview, Melanie is off to grab a flight to Benicassim, Spain's answer to Glastonbury. Charlotte is just back from six weeks trekking through South America. One of the privileges, apparently, of being part of a music sensation that despite having massive sales is still considered niche, is that the band's success depends on the quality of the talent rather than the stars' saleability. Thanks to the maturity of their audience, the girls are spared the merry-go-round of celebrity and, although their album has been at number nine in the charts, they don't have to worry about being recognised. When, not long ago, they saw a poster of themselves on the Tube, they found it so hilarious they took a photograph of themselves standing beside it. "Can you imagine Girls Aloud doing something like that?" says Charlotte.

All Angels will perform with the RTE Concert Orchestra on August 1, at 8pm at the National Concert Hall. Tickets: €15-€40. Tel: (01) 417 0000 www.nch.ie

Source: Irish Independent.