NO CEREMONY///
NO CEREMONY///
September 2 2013 (NOC///)
(8/10
Words: Andrew Major
It’s rare these days to find a band that stand out amongst the crowd for any particular reason. It seems that writing and performing great music simply isn’t enough in the current musical landscape here In the UK and overseas. NO CEREMONY///,however, appear to have cracked this and I don’t think it’s by suffixing their name with some forward slashes and always capitalising it or by having an attractive lead singer; these may have helped slightly.
They have done so by doing what so many current artists dream and also fear of doing; releasing their own music on their own label. Crazy I know and almost unheard of for some insane reason but NO CEREMONY/// seem to be doing alright from it. Performances at this year’s SXSW festival and an upcoming support slot with The Pixies at The iTunes festival must mean there’s something to write home about. Thankfully, their debut self-titled LP was released this week so we can finally see what this exciting trio have to offer.
The release embarks with a double dose of where “ambient electro” should be taken. A heady blend of pragmatic beats and heavily processed vocals in debut single and album opener ‘HURTLOVE’ will certainly take you somewhere; the piano’s chord progression alone requires you to be standing somewhere on a Greek island with the sun going down and that’s never a bad thing. Tumbling seamlessly into what for me is the album’s stand-out track ‘FEELSOLOW‘. A pretty special piece of electro-pop, absolutely basted with all the necessary components required when creating a beautiful piece of music. A vocal performance that sounds as if it’s been produced from a higher place and another backing track that is so painfully simple yet hugs the instrumentation and structure with devastating results; had ‘FEELSOLOW’ been released three months prior you wouldn’t have got it off the playlist this Summer; no doubt a prime candidate for ‘most re-mixed track’ upon its release.
Up next is the ‘feat’ section of this already highly enjoyable body of work. ‘HEARTBREAKER’ (feat. Joey Santiago) leans more towards to the aggressive side of NO CEREMONY///. For non-music nerds out there, Joey Santiago is the guitar wizard responsible for some of The Pixies most iconic riffs and he doesn’t fail here. His guitar work compliments without overwhelming the track with front-woman Victoria Hamblett’s vocals shimmering through with some nice electro stutters shoved in for good measure.
‘WARSONGS’ doesn’t ‘feat’ anyone but it’s another piano led vision of electro with a vocal delivery to die for, the soundtrack to a summer holiday complete with more simple but highly effective processed beats. ‘AWAYFROMHERE’ (they really are all in capitals) features James Vincent McMorrow with his Bon Iver-esque vocals a welcome addition to the bands individual style. Hands down the most chilled out track on the record but still no hint of a filler; every track has its place and adds to the feel of the album.
We come to the tail end of ‘NO CEREMONY///’ with ‘HOLDONME’ and ‘PARTOFME’ providing more of the same in the way of augmented vocals and synth/piano let instrumentation. It would be fair to say that by this point in the records the overall sound has been well established but there is a distinct lack of progress. Every track is solid and pleasurable however it would be nice to hear a bit of progression in the way of vocal effects and backing tracks.
Thankfully ‘DELIVERUS’ goes some way towards doing just that. An ethereal sonic landscape is created using a mixture of break-beats and swirling soundscapes topped off with some seriously eerie vocals layered with more reverb than being stuck in the Grand Canyon; very nice indeed. Last but certainly not least we have ‘HEAVYHOUR’. If you want a lesson in how to finish off a debut album and leave a lasting impression on the listener then this is pretty much it. As uplifting as it gets but never venturing into the “cheesy love song” realm. This is down in part to the tracks production and indeed to overall production of the record which is sure to have had quite a fair bit of finance behind it.
NO CEREMONY/// are a band who are out there to be found and enjoyed and indeed their debut LP has made some head way towards pushing themselves out to the masses, in many ways it seems as if NO CEREMONY/// are one of those rare gems that you get to tell your mates about; pretty rare these days due to the contact hype machine surrounding most new artists. Go and find them, see them live, tell your friends.
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