A coffee-shop record of warm piano-led fused musical blends
Piano riffing like they've got The Charlatans in the blood, then comes in the shaky female vocals, first track 'Crystal' seems to be missing some vital component, though it thinks it rocks. The whole recording, as it continues, follows in this vein, a bit shaky, a bit unsure of itself, a bit thin on the ground, but totally imaginable as a nice coffee-stained live extravaganza.
The self-described 'piano-rock' comes across as a palpable, Starbucks-fashioned traipse through tuned-down easy listening, and it is easy listening; ignorable, savant-styled and background-suited, the sort of thing quiet on the speakers in a chilled-out café.
There are lashings of jazz in the likes of 'Mainstream' et al, that track with a good pulsing bass that welcomes in a bit of hard rock every now and then, which works well (a much better fusion success than something like Porcupine Tree for example) and the song builds well to a 'Floyd The Barber' influenced chorus, immediately accompanied by a classical swagger over the keys of Leah's board. It's a song that's got it more than the rest, evoking memories of the structure of 'March of the Pigs' by Nine Inch Nails.
Yes, this smoky mini-album does sing of something, of hope, of city-potential, it's music to be cool to, it's not going to be the next big thing, it's not going to be an underground phenomenon and it's not going to be the cult hit of the summer with the indie kids, but it will politely delight your ears for its duration, and, whether or not it's adhesive enough to stay in your head, it's nice while it lasts.