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. 'Marching Song' follows this up ably with catchy basslines and vocals that sound remarkably like Florence Welch. 'Marine Fields Glow' continues the minimalist approach, sounding surprisingly heartwarming for a 'gothic' band (whether last.fm is letting me down here is another question) - it ebbs away at the section of your brain labelled "mmm".



'Light Streams' is particularly more conventional for a rock band - making use of a repeated hook to simultaneously build sinister and hypnotic atmospheres. In 'Hexagons IV' synths of a dramatic nature are dropped with some odd little twinkles and heavy drums before collapsing halfway through into something notably more contemplative.

Then 'Chorea' (both a greek dance and a disease concerning involuntary muscle movement, perhaps cruelly) fittingly intrudes with what I'm told is 'witch house' dance vibes that are really just a blend of minimalist dubstep and ethereal electronics with a few psychedelic twinges. But it works. 'Warpath' is comparatively unimaginative; treading over familiar territory. So there's a quick change in 'Battlecry/Mimicry', a short piece of frantic echoes and tense march drums that build a creepy interlude.



'Eumenides' comes next, namedropping some greek spirits that were supposedly adorned with snakes for hair and seeked vengeance. Quite how that ties in with the track is beyond me and you have to ask if they're just trying to come off as interesting now. The track is a little too long and too uneventful to make an impact. And so we finish with 'Swans', a track doused with 50s Western-style guitars and genuine yearning that make this a great swansong, should they need one.

There's just the fear that they will. Although they do appear to have established quite a few fans - enough to take them on tour across the pond, anyway, which is more than most new bands from Brighton would accomplish I'm sure. But enough evaluating their credentials - the music is moody, it's dark, it's a little confusing at times and a shade pretentious, but on the face of it there are some great tracks.

Rating: 6.5/10
Highlights: Chorea, Light Streams, Argyria, Swans
Avoid: Warpath, Eumenides