LABYRINTH EAR - ALBUM REVIEW

Labyrinth Ear - The Orchid Room 
Labyrinth Ear - The Orchid Room

Release Date: 14th April 2014

This London duo describe their music as Fantasia Pop which suggest an unhealthy obsession with Mickey Mouse cartoons and fizzy drinks. However, this album starts with something altogether less saccharine as 'Blue Apple' sounds like David Lynch having a go at the soundtrack for Charlie & The Chocolate Factory. 'Lorna', on the other hand, has a really pleasing 90s feel to it as vocalist Emily comes in to her own before 'Droplets of Pearl' shimmers in to view like a woozy, underwater hangover that leaves you convinced someone slipped something in to your drink last night. This is the very indie-est of indie pop which will appeal to huge swathes of East Londoners and improbably dressed 20 somethings the world over - but can you dance to it?

Good question. 'Grey Dove' starts with a long drone that doesn't lend itself to busting a move and doesn't get a whole lot livelier while 'Urchin' has the feel of an 80s soundtrack song that would have covered a scene when a futuristic renegade prepares for a dawn raid on some cyborgs (trust me on this). Lovely as 'Dawns And Dusks' is with its frantic, trance-esque electronic melodies, it is just a 60 second interlude before 'Burnished Bronze' rolls in to view with a bigger sound and at least the chance to sway to the lazy rhythms. There is an off kilter, ambient feel to 'Amber' that is strangely alluring despite the odd bagpipe sound they chose for the melody while 'Amethyst Days' is a more seductive affair, as if Goldfrapp had been asked to perform in the chill out room of an S&M club.

The titles on this album are all fairly elemental which is in contrast to the electronic nature of the music but on tracks like 'Marble Eyes' you do get the feeling that much of the music may have been inspired by the sounds of everyday life all around us. As the album approaches the close 'Opal' arrives for around 2 minutes of slightly ambient and definitely chilled out fun before the closing track, 'Crescent Moon', takes us back to those 90s old school dance beats and synth noises. I have to say, this isn't the kind of album I would rush to put on in many situations but if you like your music electronic, slightly moody and chilled to the point of being a bit sleepy then this might just be for you. It's not really party music though, unless you're holding a really, really, really exclusive hipster party.

More information: https://www.facebook.com/labyrinthear?fref=ts

Live Dates:

15th April - Album Launch Party @ White Heat, London
16th April - Nation Of Shopkeepers, Leeds
18th April - 60 Million Postcards, Bournemouth
19th April - Record Store Day, Reading
21st April - Start The Bus, Bristol

26th April - L'Espace B, Paris 

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