When indie artist Cavetown announced new music to be released, we perked up at the opportunity to review the work. As long-term fans of his, we looked forward to seeing what came next. Those expectations, set moderately high, took a turn to crushing disappointment at the released product.
From start to finish, this EP is filled with unnecessary electronic background noise that draws away from the lyrics and singing. It begins with songs floating in seeming techno space and never lands. This element has potential to add to music, but the timbre of his voice simply doesn’t fit without acoustic instrumentation.
Throughout, singer Robbie Skinner’s voice stands out from the rest of the track. With the heavy distortion, it feels unnatural and wrong. Although it may be partially due to our bias of having heard Robbie sing with more acoustic instruments in the past, it’s undeniable that those tones complimented him significantly better. While we appreciate the attempt of something new, this was a mistake.
One thing exacerbating the issues is the lack of energy to the songs. Although Cavetown has proven that they can write exceptional slow songs, this EP makes me doubt that.
We have always adored his sweet voice and calming songs. Yet throughout this track, and especially in the first half, he negates that and instead mutters something impossible to understand over an uninteresting electronic background.
“let them know they’re on your mind,” the third track, is the exception. Although the beginning still starts with more synthetic instrumentation than he’s used in the past, the stronger prominence of Robbie’s voice and grounding guitar reminds us of what he’s capable of. If it was possible for one song to save it, this just might have done it.
And yet, the contrast between “let them know they’re on your mind” and every other song further exposes the EP’s weaknesses. This track is significantly more upbeat than the others, the only one that feels like something we’d want to sing along to. However, it’s really the break from the oppressive synths that make the song.
Overall, there was no need for this EP. “let them know they’re on your mind” easily could have been a successful single. It felt too good to be lumped with these other embarrassments. There would have been nothing lost if this EP was reduced to a single.
