Rebecca Simpson - Robot Drama EP
(Die Venom)
Sparse arrangements mingle with a small and yearning voice that struggles to compete with the other instruments for attention. The first track, "Serendipity," features a busy drumbeat tied to a plinking piano and a fuzzed guitar left underneath the mix. Effects are used to spice up the rhythms of the voice and snare, but these post-production tricks do not detract from the fragility of Rebecca's singing, barely hitting or hanging onto a note before falling to another. "Ballad of the Paradigm Shifters" pushes the delay up all around, but the song maintains a little groove with the help of a two-chord organ hop.
Ms. Simpson harmonizes with herself on "From Beyond the Triangle of the Lost," an endeavor that might have proved more successful if she were able to stay in one key. However, the song works when the waltzing guitar notes are joined by taps on glass bottles, pots and pans, summoning an eerie feeling of distance. The EP ends with "Strive to see, yet escape drowning," another exercise in reverb that proves worthwhile thanks to the spaces in between as much as the notes themselves. Piano again provides the foundation for an upbeat guitar strum and Rebecca's delicate pronouncements, so light and airy that they barely stick to the compact disc. Overall, this four-song debut offers a few interesting moments, something favorable to build upon in her future projects.
|
