Loading ...Catriona Irving – Sitting On The Shelf EP / Naomi Hates Humans – Naomi Hates Humans EP
Catriona Irving’s EP Sitting On The Shelf features all the serene qualities of a hauntingly melodic voice reinforced by an undertow of collaborative instrumentals, courtesy of members of The Sleeping Years. Though using particularly simple lyrics, the beat of her title track is not only catchy, but it invokes that favourable head nodding that comes with an easy-to-follow tune. The rhythmic pulse and easily interwoven lyrics slip this song into place as a great walking tune, ideal for merrily dawdling through the city.
Not content with taking a load off and sitting in the corner, let alone being put on the shelf, the band Naomi Hates Humans alternately offers a more gruff voice to the life of the city. Powerful and tipsy, the vocal talents imbued in their eponymous EP are compelling and full of purpose, finding similarities to both The Decemberists and, in part, Cold War Kids. Compared to the upbeat and almost innocent introduction offered by Irving, Naomi Hates Humans delivers an almost venomous start with ‘Half The Man’, which, whilst honestly delivered, is lacklustre.
Elsewhere on the EP posed by this supposedly, according to the press release, ‘hateful’ band, it becomes apparent that the introduction was in fact the selfsame false start that haunts the dreams of every athlete. In ‘Tightly Choreographed Moments’, we are treated with a vocal performance reminiscent of the dance of a seemingly embittered puppet or marionette, jerkily flowing as the instrumentals both set the stage and provide a path for her to tread. The track implores the listener to haphazardly move through the lively steps sung by Naomi Scott, with lyrics that usher in the transient biography of the romantic situation. The following track, ‘Heroes Like Us’, seems more of an extension to this track than its successor, though the changing pace set by drummer Sagar Patel and guitarist Lewis Young provide a starkly enjoyable contrast to the unwavering momentum of Scott.
With Irving, though, the song line-up that follows her lofty start is perhaps a little less spectacular, though undoubtedly finds a place alongside similarly melancholic bands such as The Hush Sound. With ‘Untitled’ and ‘Measurements’ we are offered slight glimpses of a peaceful but slightly sorrowful haven, fleeting and forgettable.
To conclude her EP, Irving and DJ Julien Plaisir De France offer a remix of ‘Sitting On The Shelf’, truly enhanced by layers of male vocals and otherworldly synths, though changing the day-to-day tune into something that seems unable to exist on either the street or the dance floor. Contrarily and to their credit, Scott and her band offer libation in the form of the quite uplifting finale ‘Some Things Are Worth Getting Your Heart Broken For’. Containing the same dips and dives of previous tracks, it finishes the EP in a truly reflective manner, almost a polar opposite to the repelling introduction.
