ALBUM REVIEWS
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ALBUM REVIEWS |
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Astrid Williamson
HERE COME THE VIKINGS ONE LITTLE INDIAN 8.06.09 @www.vanguard-online.co.uk
This is the fourth solo offering from this former member of ethereal Indie fopsters Goya Dress. They only released 3 EP’s and a solitary album – 1996’s ‘Rooms’, which I’m sure I’ve got stashed in the CD racks at home somewhere but must have only ever listened to a couple of times. The appealing aspect of this album is the broad diversity of styles at work. Opening track ‘Store’ hangs it’s hat on the US female indie fraternity – Julianna Hatfield, Breeders etc. Yet ‘Sing The Body Electric’ is a sprightly jangly pop song – despite some decidedly ropey lyrics referencing Isambard Kingdom Brunel (such as rhyming his name with the couplet ‘could build you a bridge very, very well…’) Many tracks also offer a trippy atmosphere heavy tone – such as ‘How You Take My Breath Away’ and ‘Crashing Minis’ – with Williamson’s breathy mellifluous vocals comparable to that of Beth Gibbons from Portishead. I also like how many of the tracks have a clever ploy of only including cryptic song titles as a deeply buried part of the lyric (if at all) – making you work that bit harder to gain entry to the intimate ambience of the songs. Just when you think you’ve got a handle on what this album is all about, another surprise change in style and pace comes along - ‘Falling Down’ is more akin to the glossy Eighties influenced electro-pop currently doing the rounds; but done with much more style than many of the re-hashes occupying the upper regions of the charts at the moment. As with someone like Portishead on initial listens you may feel somewhat indifferent about this album, but repeated listens bring great rewards as the songs begin to imprint themselves in your mind. I may even have to dig out that old Goya Dress album to check if I disregarded it too hastily all those years ago. www.astridwilliamson.net |
