Demos

Where The Spoken Play - EP

Tim Miller 27/02/2006

Rating: 3/5

A minute of eerie droning guitars and random percussion noises precede the opening vocals of the first track, simply called A Night. The vocals border on what seems like restrained despair, a baring of the soul as they switch between whispers and moans. The song builds each minute as the drums add substance to the track, and the vocal melody and dissonant splashes of electric guitar give this track an uneasy, moody tinge to shades of discontent that emerge as the music grows.
Altered, the second song, has more of the same vocals that seem ready to spill into anguish, this time swathed in fuzzy distortion. The strummed guitars are mixed under, and a climbing bass riff is the most animated musicianship on show. The chorus, strangely, is similar to Bruce Springsteen's Philadelphia, due mainly to the airy backing vocals, and very nice it is too.

Three Months sees an appearance from a (French?) vocalist, and a dour mood is accompanied by strings direct from Paris it seems. The understated drums and bass give this low-fi track a shy, haunting tone, though simultaneously at four and a half minutes long there has been little to really grab you.

With one track left, it's make or break time for WTSP. Luckily, See You Again is about the strongest track here. A washy guitar line backs up the returning angst driven vocals, before the chorus trades lines between two singers and soft-fuzz improvised guitar fiddles around in the background. The most pop-sounding chorus out of the 4 tracks, it is also, perhaps ironically, the best, and the track plays out repeating the refrain over and over again.

There's nothing remarkable about Where The Spoken Play's; that is not to say they aren't different, they are, but not outstandingly so. Perhaps, not yet. Their music is about building moods, and they create some very edgy ones at that. A couple of the tracks here are songs you keep coming back to, and if there's more to come from this band, it will be certainly be interesting to hear.

http://www.wherethespokenplay.com/