Singles

The Electric Cinema - Cut Down

Bruce Turnbull 12/03/2007

Rating: 3/5

Naming your band after the most eminent propagators of art-house summons quite a precursor, and unfortunately The Electric Cinema aren't quite as inspiring or enveloping as the product of their namesake. Their talent lies in forming musical landscapes with their unpredictable use of light and shade - as their second single from the self-tilted debut demonstrates.

Opening with a turgid, melancholic vocal passage reminiscent of Coldplay, “Cut Down” eventually flowers into a slow-burning miasma of jangly guitars, Space-like synths and sparkling piano that manages to uplift and depress simultaneously. This is by no means a bad advantage to have; on the contrary, if your music can cover moods like a comfort blanket, you have some pretty timeless material on your hands. Admirably, The Electric Cinema convenes somewhere in between, as the tracks on this single, “Cut Down” and “Diagrams” illustrate. The latter is perhaps a little too urbane for its own good - too much Divine Comedy - but it barely out stays its welcome, clocking in at a standard three and a half minutes.

The talent this indie quartet has to offer should be an inducement to the music buying public; more quality should be replacing the inferiority, and if The Electric Cinema are going to be the ones to hijack the trophy of commercial success from under lesser bands noses, I won't be complaining.

Released: 12/03/07