singer Gwendolyn gives off a scarily assured air, akin to a Victorian governess scolding her charges.
singer Gwendolyn gives off a scarily assured air, akin to a Victorian governess scolding her charges.
http://www.spacesiren.nl http://www.katzwijm.com http://www.subroutine.nl
A marvellous 4 track single and one all discerning types should own.
Funnily enough (when you consider the inanities of promo blurb accompanying new releases) the press bumf gets it spot on when Space Siren are described as “Joyfully dark and taste like tulips with Tabasco”. Absolutely.
There’s a haughty, standoffish vibe that the band push on this single which is very, very appealing indeed. I’ll even be bold enough to say singer Gwendolyn gives off a scarily assured air, akin to a Victorian governess scolding her charges. Noticeable also is the tension that drives the music; especially between the insistent hammering of the percussion and the dreamy textured vibe – albeit with a metallic sheen – created by the guitars. Tracks like This Radar and (Wrong) are sonically not far from very early Cocteau Twins (I’m thinking of first single) or very early Stereolab (say John Cale Bubblegum or French Disco).
It’s cold and downright forbidding music: the feeling that there’s something narsty in the woodshed is accentuated by the Gothic drama of wehavemetthedaylightbefore, and even if the last track The Next Room tries to assuage our fears by aid of cooing vocals and a soft farfisa part, the listener still gets the feeling that there’s more to be revealed.
All in all an excellent release.