TALLY SPEAR – EP REVIEW

Tally Spear – Tally 

Release Date: Out Now

Tally Spear is one of my favourite discoveries of 2020 and this six track EP pulls together a flurry of singles into a superbly concise and effective collection for your delectation. The EP opens with ‘What Do I Want’, a sassy and angular piece that would be watered down and rounded off in the hands of mainstream pop artists, but Spear is all about the edges. ‘Can’t Find What I’m Looking For’ maintains that edge with an ice cool and sparse arrangement that takes it’s beat from finger clicks and it’s melody from a distant vocal before the chorus explodes with confidence and desperation in equal measure. It’s one hell of a start.

On ‘Oddball’ we are treated to suitably kooky melodies blended with Spear’s assured vocal but again those angles and edges are there for all to see which adds a distinct amount of substance to the abundance of style. ‘Already Gone’ has a dark side that takes the sinister guitar notes and mixes in a few atmospherics to create a tune that you wouldn’t be surprised to see paired with a video featuring scantily clad woman writhing around in a dark room but thankfully Spear doesn’t need to resort to such frivolity. Indeed, ‘City Girl’ has the pop chops but they’re paired with some serious rock riffage which wouldn’t be out of place on a Pink album or at Reading Festival (if they bother to book female artists). The EP closes on ‘I Fee Free’, a delicious cover of the Cream classic that takes the 60s energy and matches it with some sparse 21st century arrangements to make a song that breathes new life in to its own old bones. I declare 2020 to have been a good year for Tally Spear and there won’t be many you can say that about come December.

More information: https://www.facebook.com/tallyspear

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