Death by Chocolate - s/t
(Jetset)
Death By Chocolate's self-titled debut is so cute
and fun! In an interview on unpop.com, young Angela
Faye Tillet, who writes and speaks/sings the lyrics,
said she wanted the album "to be like watching the
film Willy Wonka," and it is. On "The Land of
Chocolate," little electric raindrops and keyboard
swirls sound like a visit to a magical chocolate
factory where Angela is giving a tour in her perfectly
British accent. She describes all sorts of English
candy, like Smarties ("What letter is it? Oh good! T,
for tasty!") or Wispa ("like spongy melting waves of
air, but air that tastes like sweet, sweet yummins"). I
laughed out loud when I heard that song the first
time--it was fun!
Much of the music on Death By Chocolate sounds like
sixties pop. Like "Magpie," which Angela half-sings
while go-go girls and a vintage organ backing her up.
Several songs feature an organ that came straight off
a Doors record. All have catchy melodies and beats.
There are seventeen tracks on the album and most are
under two minutes. This is good because although fun,
if they were longer, they could easily become
unbearable.
The music is often repetitive, like "A, B, & C," when
the guitar and organ play the same theme over and
over. The focus is supposed to be on the lyrics.
Angela reads a definition for twenty-six words, one
for every song in the alphabet. They are random, like
codpiece and junket, so it's fun. But when she reaches
the end of the alphabet, when the song should be over,
she starts again at A and repeats the same
definitions, and that's when it gets bad.
Many of the songs have a similar problem. The music is
so basic and repetitive that it relies a lot on the
lyrics, so when the lyrics are boring or there aren't
any, there is nothing to do but skip the song. There
are exceptions, of course, and "Daddy's Out of Focus"
is one of them. The best thing on Death By Chocolate
is the lyrics. For the most part, they are funny and
entertaining. There are these little spoken tracks between songs,
which I enjoy very much, that describe
colors like mustard yellow.
There are three cover songs on the album: "The L.S.
Bumble Bee" by Dudley Moore, "Who Needs Wings to Fly?"
the theme from the TV show The Flying Nun, and "If You
Want to Sing Out, Sing Out" by Cat Stevens. They are
all good, especially "Who Needs Wings to Fly?" which
Angela sings accompanied by a happy electric guitar
and soft drumming. It's very nostalgic.
You want to listen to Death By Chocolate, but maybe in
small doses--it's super yummy, but too much is no good.
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