I think back to the first time I encountered this band – a concert at Dundee's Doghouse – and a band whose songs were quite light with a vocalist who had a very distinctive unique, almost “little girl lost” quality to her voice, in fact exactly the sort of thing that would normally bypass my musical tastes by miles – but which, the more the set went on, I couldn't escape from, which naggingly latched onto my heart and refused to let go.
Then the band sent me two demo tracks - “Because I Do” and “Mango Tree” - and I fell in love with both – suddenly it all made sense – I saw the band again – and was disappointed that the lightness had turned to solid as the now more electrified band proved way more powerful. Since then I've not seen them in concert – not by choice, I hasten to add.
So, now comes the official EP – and the two demo tracks are here – newly embellished with more instrumentation, more production, more layers, an altogether bigger sound all round – and you know what? - it's utterly amazing!! The already heartfelt, distinctively accented, high register softness of Pearl's vocal has been produced to perfection, the studio overdubs adding multi-tracked grace, soaring harmonies and texturally gorgeous layers to provide a vocal that is just wondrous from start to finish. The title track begins the EP, initially just with crisp acoustic and that heady vocal delivering the verses and the song's hook in the flowing, relative blink of an eye. Added to that, the band enter and the sound of shuffling drums, resonant bass, tinkling percussion, light guitars all add qualities to the track that take it onto a much stronger plane, the hook to the song, not only insanely catchy but actually leading into a wordless chorus that's every bit as infectious as the verses and the hook – in fact, it's the sort of rare song that's immediate and yet, no matter how many times you play or hear it, you never tire of it, or wanting to hear it again, for that matter. Just astounding!! A new track follows, “Girlfriend”, starting with keyboard and shuffling drums and percussion, as the highly captivating, highly original vocal from Pearl just flows like sweet honey at a gorgeously high pitch, giving us a song of hope, despair and longing with an emotion that just tugs at your heartstrings and is as magnificently moody as it is passionately beautiful, again, another chorus that zeroes in on your consciousness with pinpoint precision. Up next is “Mango Tree”, a soft bounce of a number with a solid rhythmic undertow, another gorgeous vocal, exquisite harmonies and all leading to an instrumentally solid, high-flying chorus that as expansive as it is powerfully passionate, all played, sung and produced to perfection. Finally, the CD ends with “Lower Ground”, a more introspective song with handclaps, crisp acoustic guitars, a more urgent vocal on the choruses, multi-tracked vocals and a song that's almost angst-ridden in parts, showing a darker element to the band's writing, but still as addictive only in a wholly different emotional way. Overall, it's sublime, utterly hypnotic and a joy to hear. I think I'm really going to love hearing this band play live now....