This debut EP by Australian-based duo FOREVR is one of those discs you’ll either love or hate within seconds of hitting the play button. With no time to warm up, the band have already shifted from silence to a complete wall of sound in a split second, as the intro ‘Yucatan’ crushes with a huge droning noise. Overdriven guitars with amplifiers turned up to twelve (one even louder) gleefully throw out distorted shapes as chief musician Donovan Miller hammers at an array of effects pedals. From somewhere within, vocalist Sam George-Allen melds her voice accordingly, a filtered sound rising and falling throughout, wisp-like and ghostly as if she’s channelling Elizabeth Fraser on a collaboration with the equally uncompromising A Place To Bury Strangers.
Tag Archives: electronica
ZERO SHE FLIES – The River EP
Zero She Flies is a folk-rock band from Bristol formed from the ashes of pop-rock outfit Mermaid Kiss and although all three members had been involved with the previous band at various stages, the first recordings from ZSF feel very much like a new beginning. The band made their debut in May 2015 with standalone track ‘Small Mercy’, giving listeners a fair idea of what to expect from upcoming material. Their first EP, ‘The River, released a couple of months later, features four tracks associated with water, thus making it a concept release of sorts. That’s concept in a “linking theme” sense as opposed to carrying a definite narrative stretched out to its thinnest point over a double elpee, so those looking for more Broadway lambs, walls built from arrogance and general pomposity can swiftly move along… Stoking up the folk elements, on these four numbers, Zero She Flies often carry sparkles of Caravan and Renaissance, but always with their own twist, and it would be fair to say that listeners who enjoy the occasional folky lilt and a strong female voice will find an affinity within at least three of these four tunes.
THE QUIET ROOM – All The Frozen Horses
In 2013, Australian rock band Evoletah unveiled ‘We Ache For The Moon’, a huge surprise of an album that threw away most of their previous alternative rock traits in favour of a moody sound combining rock, prog and touches of jazz. One of the best albums of the year, it’s lower-key sounds really seemed in tune with the voice of frontman Matt Cahill, tapping into the understated qualities of his voice. It was a brilliant musical statement – and the band knew it; so, then rather than set about creating a similarly themed successor straight away, Cahill stepped aside and with a huge input from multi-instrumentalist Andrew Muecke, began creating material in a completely different style.
ELLA SQUIRRELL – Loop EP
Taking in a range of influences on her debut EP ‘Loop’, singer-songwriter Ella Squirrell creates four tracks which are heavily rooted in the electronic with some hefty beats, but always retain elements of the human spirit. The core of the music borrows heavily from late 90s trip-hop and electronica, while her open and sometimes biting lyrical approach owes more to the candid singer-songwriters like Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon from decades earlier. In this respect, her work should appeal to devotees of Sarah McLachlan, especially those who have a liking for her work with electro act Delirium. Ms Squirrell, of course, doesn’t just recycle these influences – as with any singer-songwriter dealing with the more personal, huge chunks of her own emotion and spirit make up the heart of the material.
I US & WE – Mono EP
Blending elements of dream pop and synth pop, California’s I Us & We create a fairly spacious, yet melancholy sound on their debut EP ‘Mono’. Like Australia’s MNTNS, their core sound is heavy on electronic drones and synths, but thankfully like the more melodic elements of Moby or the very best parts of Depeche Mode’s expansive catalogue, somehow manages to eschew most of the coldness that such humanly detached sounds might conjure if left in the hands of the lesser talented.