Esben and the Witch - Violet Cries, a review
Run out of new leaks again so I'll review something pretty recent. Esben and the Witch were nominated for all of the right 'breakthrough' awards - Q, NME, BBC's Sound of Music - but upon the release of their debut LP, Violet Cries, failed to make a splash. And this in spite of rave reviews; NME gave it 8/10, 4 stars from the Telegraph. Perhaps the fault is in the setup. Female vocalist, gothic-tinged moody synth rock is not exactly a rarity in today's environment. In a year of breakthroughs by Anna Calvi, Zola Jesus and The Joy Formidable - not to mention weighty returns from PJ Harvey and Lykke Li - perhaps the niche is already fulfilled. Nonetheless, Violet Cries is interesting. Opener 'Argyria', the name of a disease caused by exposure to silver, lives up to its strange moniker with a slowly crawling synth that swirls around your head until its guttural climax, supplemented by The XX-style detached vocals and subtleties that are quite precious indeed. ...