Categorising this band will be hard
It is, at the outset, obvious that categorising this band or their music will be very hard. They provide both point and counterpoint in the mixture of different vocals. There is at first something reminiscent of Kirsty McColl in the vocals of this first number 'Monte Christo'. Against a backdrop of very soft folk/rock music Shingai Shoniwa weaves in threads of what can only be described as soul/rock/jazz vocals. It's a sound that has an infectious quality, but on first hearing could be put down as 'background music'; however it has an insistence that beats into you.
Next take a funk/jazz fusion and throw in a pinch of Pink Floyd style to the background, then think Billie Holliday vocals and you'll come close to 'Signs'-a mature and beautifully interpreted number.
'Burn' with its harder sound is one that yet again shows the versatility of the Noisettes and is one of those songs that bubbles with sexual energy. Like the iron fist in a velvet glove 'Don't Give Up' takes you by surprise yet again with its heavy beat and six string magic. You'll find yourself thinking 'where the hell did this one come from?' Riffed up music and growling vocals make this a gem.
Although these numbers produce something different each time the thing that links them together are the consistently strong vocalisations by Shingai; from purrs to silk sheet smooth climaxing in steely growls, they provide the soul to these songs. The music is pleasant enough, but without these vocals would lack the adrenalin they need.