ALBUM REVIEWS: THE IRREPRESSIBLES and CHEW LIPS
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The Irrepressibles
Mirror Mirror
V2/Cooperative
Rating 4/5
Composer Jamie McDermott is the brains behind this 10-piece 'performance orchestra' - and with this debut he has birthed a theatrical, ostentatious and beguiling record. The staccato opening of My Friend Jo, with McDermott's quivering, mysterious vocal, immediately recalls the Marmite music of Antony And The Johnsons. But the theatricality at play here sits on more melodic chassis, often graceful, soft and swirling baroque pop that makes the rushing peaks and hollers of Knife Song surprisingly listenable. Orchestral arrangements are invigorating and intricate, giving the nod to Sparks' pomp and the grandeur of Sigur Rós by turns, but always feeling totally original. A new pop for a new decade?
Chew Lips
Unicorn
Family Records
Rating: 3/5
Not just another electro-pop outfit, Chew Lips' frontwoman Tigs sings with a welcome depth of emotion. Yes, there is a soul among the synths on this 10-song set. Too Much Talking is a case in point - a warm rain of soothing bleeps is the perfectly matched bedfellow to a pained plea for a ceasefire. There's spare, strident dancefloor fodder too, but Gold Key is far more interesting; pulsing menacingly slowly like a city's dark heart, with Tigs' wails of 'Your hands were tied/we're playing with guns' as starkly sobering as an A&E ward's fluorescents. Signing off with Piano Song's fragile sadness, this east London trio are well worth your time.
- STEPHEN MOORE
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