When Esben and the Witch finally released their debut album Violet Cries earlier this year, they brought a sense of grandiose mystery to music.
Rachel Davies’ vocals were beautiful yet banshee-esque in their power
and the whir of the electronic drone and hum of piled-up reverb sounded
like Bjork had suddenly joined Mogwai. Live, they were a force to be
reckoned with too – even on a small stage with 3 members, the sound was
so big; almost ethereal, it felt like something more must have been at
work.
So it’s a shame that the Hexagons EP, a suite of 6 tracks
based around a reworking of ‘Hexagon IV’ which features on the album,
treads the line ever so slightly to the side of dull rather than
macabre. Rachel’s vocals, once a siren’s call, now just sound flat. It’s
this that separates Esben and the Witch from the other reverb heavy
post-rock groups out there and, without it, they simply join that pile.
There seems to be no progression or even continuity to the suite and,
in that sense, it doesn’t work as well as it should have done. It’s a
disappointing record because it feels as though they’ve used up all
their great ideas in Violet Cries and are now running on hot
air; trying to get a lot out of very little. Hopefully, their next
effort will bring back the macabre beauty of Violet Cries.
2/5
Recommended download: ‘Hexagons IV (The Still)’
