ep review
EP Review: ARKLEY – Origins (Our Space Records)
Emerging Scottish DJ and producer ARKLEY has released his EP Origins via Our Space Records and it continues his music influenced by classic 90s rave and big beats sounds. The 3-track EP is an utter joy and perfect to soundtrack the summer. Genres of music may have their moment in the sun, but to see …
EP Review: Been Stellar – Been Stellar
Sometimes its difficult to pinpoint exactly why a band and/or song resonates. Having seen New York-based Been Stellar at The Great Escape in Brighton in May I was captivated. It seems I wasn’t alone as it resulted in a return to these shores last month to play a number of gigs. They say timing is …
Album Review: deep tan – diamond horsetail
Deep Tan (or rather, deep tan, as they are more correctly styled) are one of those bands that it’s really hard not to keep coming back to. Their stripped-back, almost minimalist approach speaks of a charisma and a confidence that is rarely found, and their live outings somehow manage to be oddly chill and intense …
EP Review: Lilo’s ‘Sleep Country’ teaches the true meaning of bittersweet.
New from Practise Music comes the full length EP by duo Lilo, entitled ‘Sleep Country’. The record is a collaboration between BFFs Christie Gardner and Helen Dixon, and partly comprises the best of their singles released piece-by-piece throughout the previous year. There’s a certain understated power and weight to the songs Lilo has produced for …
EP review: Clarice Jensen – ‘Identifying Features’: a second, delightful leftfield venture into filmic cello
WAY BACK in January we took a dive into Ainu Moisir – our full review can be found, here – a deft, brief quarter-hour of exploratory cello and electronica meshing and also a first entry into the world of the soundtrack for Clarice Jensen, the artistic director of the American Contemporary Music Ensemble. The titular …
EP Review: Superlove creates an entrancing melange of heavy metal pop delights in their EP ‘….but for the moment’
The new EP from Superlove is a fascinating mix between slamming hard rock and commercial pop: a mix that is dynamic and shimmering and creates something quite refreshing. Thundering guitars sit next to bubbling synths within one track, with a vocal overlay that ranges from synth-infected vocoders to raw and emotional melodies. There is a …
EP: Incessant – Perennial Umbra
Irish black metal band Incessant have released their debut EP ‘Perennial Umbra’. It is best to keep in mind that this is a trio whilst listening to this EP. The noise they produce and clever arrangement of the tracks makes this hard to believe in places. As the tracks are well set out as the band have …
EP REVIEW: Kero Kero Bonito – Civilisation II – helping lift the weight of isolation off everyone’s minds
From the poster child and early adopters of what has come to be known as hyperpop, comes the second EP in Kero Kero Bonito’s Civilisation series. For a few years now, following the cult sensation of albums like Bonito Generation and Time ‘n’ Place, there has been a very vocal effort from the band to …
EP Review: Italian shoegaze outfit 7Mondays release sky-scraping debut EP ‘Sent’
Italian duo 7Mondays have just released their debut EP ‘Sent’: a collection of three songs that draw strongly on a shoegaze sound tempered with a touch of emo and post punk rock. The EP is topped and tailed by an intro and outro effects. Opening track ‘What’s Best to Die For’ is a shifting, changing …
EP Review: Graywave unveils the seismic dream pop delight ‘Planetary Shift’
Here at Backseat Mafia, we have been lauding the dream pop aural landscapes Graywave has created through a series of singles released over the past year. Graywave – the nom de plume of West Midland’s multi-instrumentalist Jess Webberley – has now released an EP entitled ‘Planetary Shift’ through the boutique Brisbane label False Peak Records, …