Heather Perry and the _____s - These Appetites
ARTIST.....: Heather Perry and the _____s
TITLE......: These Appetites
LABEL......: Spade Kitty
STORE DATE.: May-05-2009
GENRE......: Indie
ENCODER....: Lame 3.97 / -V2 --vbr-new
SIZE.......: 23,2 MB
Track Listing:
01 - These Appetites 04:16
02 - City Song 03:09
03 - Nuptial Flight 03:29
04 - Old Friends In New Beds 03:37
05 - Grenadine 03:01
─────
17:32 min
Release Notes:
http://www.myspace.com/heatherperrymusic
Heather Perry and the _______s may be relative newcomers to
Chicago's music scene, but you'd never know it from listening to
their new EP, These Appetites. Perry's unique, mature songwriting
instantly creates an utterly distinctive mood. The title track's
rolling piano lures the listener into her arena, guiding you
towards the aural centerpiece of her one-of-a-kind voice- powerful
but beautiful, sultry but understated, firm but gentle, emotive
but analytical. A haunting guitar, chiming just underneath the
surface, joins in. Thenàa second voice in harmony, a steady drum
lineàand finally the song explodes dynamically into the chorus
with a wash of guitar and soaring vocals, only to eventually
recede again behind her supple tenor for another round.
The real depth of the songwriting becomes even more apparent with
the subsequent tracks. On the single-worthy pop nonchalance of
"Citysong", lyrical wit is matched with clever instrumental
interplay, and Perry uses her incredible voice as an additional
instrument, alternating pretty and tough with each verse and
chorus while never sounding forced, while the band provides a
brightly lit backdrop for her to strut on. "Nuptial Flight"
showcases a classical sense for melody and arrangement while
retaining enough accessibility and grit to sound unmistakably rock
and roll, until the incredible coda of the track spins into an
entirely different direction with a trumpet and jarring tempo
distortions. The playful shuffle of "Old Friends in New Beds"
perfectly brings the mood back to a simple acoustic singalong,
infecting the listener like a warm cup of coffee on a sun-splashed
morning. The dark, haunting vaudeville pastiche of "Grenadine"
supplies the perfect climax as the release's closer, leaving the
listener wanting as the curtain is suddenly dropped.
Perry's superb, hypnotic vocals would be enough to front any band,
and her songwriting and lyrical wit would be enough to carry any
solo performance, but what makes These Appetites a truly singular
accomplishment is pairing both with the fluidity of her backing
band, the ______s. The group, formed during the 2 years of live
support of her second album, Doing It For You, provides the
perfect backdrop for Perry to explore the very fringes of her
ideas with her audience. Veteran drummer/producer Noah Samuels
(Trakan, The Get, Ghost Pilot) provides a rock-solid foundation as
the backbone of the rhythm section. Emily Wiedmeyer, Perry's
musical foil going back to their formative years, provides an
impressive counterpoint to Heather's voice, almost unconsciously
supplementing Perry with plenty of tasteful, natural harmony in
exactly the right spots. However, it's Ben Brown's virtuoso
guitar-work and tasteful trumpet that anchors the band's signature
sound, and sets the sonic stage for Perry and the entire band, as
he ranges easily from emotive riffing and rhythm fragments to all
-encompassing soundscapes. Together, the four create an utterly
unique canvas for the listener to explore over each of the five
songs. Elements of classical, pop, rock and post-rock seamlessly
feel right at home together in this powerful blend.
The band's understanding of dynamics cannot be underscored enough,
and the sophisticated arrangements on each track are as uniquely
multifaceted as Perry's songwriting suggests. However, perhaps the
EP's greatest triumph is that the songs have astounding depth
despite their relative brevity. They almost seem like short
stories rather than chapters of a novel û each with its own
characters, each with its own identity, each with its own arc û
yet nonetheless unmistakably part of the same source. And although
the entire release clocks in at barely 17 minutes, These Appetites
has as much depth as any full-length album and hopefully suggests
even greater things to come from Heather Perry and the _____s.