Drama For Yamaha - Drama For Yamaha EP (EP)
I'm a bit of a lazy house-keeper. I need a strong amount of motiviation in order to get me into a dusting & vacuuming frenzy, and need a solid soundtrack to keep me going to the end.
So I thought this would be the ultimate test for Drama for Yamaha's EP review.
The 7 second opening song 'Honours' set the EP off to a good start - chants and a great marching sound are always a great feed in to the 'right' track.
That "right" track being 'No More Ease' - a fantastic uplifting blend of high-pitched guitars and tribal sounding drums. a complicated timing sequence on this track makes for a real offbeat sound, and one that could easily sound messy and out of time - thankfully Drama For Yamaha maintain their tightness in this instance. It's a real wandering track... great for moving from room to room with a feather duster, and certainly set expectations high for the remainder of the EP.
This complexity continues with 'Kites Crash', with the introduction of electro beeps and a more prominent bass line. The mood of this song is so similar to the previous that on initial rotation I thought I had been listening to one very long track. That’s not to say that the tracks sound the same, as both songs carry their own unique styling. However they both carry the same festival vibe, complex structure and multiple nuances within each track.
The DFY crew reveal their quirkier, messier side in 'See the Sea', 1:29 minutes of punchy lyrics, plucked guitar strings and some all out noise. I’m still undecided about this song, however I can say that my intrigue and respect for this song have grown since I first played it.
I did manage to have a little giggle at the introduction of track 5 – 'Peasant King'. The sounds from the synthesizer took me straight back to memories of school holidays in the 1980’s, filled with the soundtracks to Commodore 64 games. Toward the end of this track, synths make way for an acoustic piece, which drew me away from polishing the furniture and over to the stereo to listen more intently. Thumbs up for creating such intrigue, not so great for the remainder of cleaning tasks I had ahead of me though.
The end of this song feeds in well to the final track, 'Pacifica', a mellower, reflective piece. The filters used on the guitar fill out this song well, while still allowing space for the song to float in the melodramatic clouds of reflection. Like its predecessors, this track has a few subtle thematic changes, something that I feel is a hallmark of Drama for Yamaha’s music in general after listening to this EP.
In retrospect, it's probably not the best album to clean your house to, but on a train trip to work, in the background at a small get-together, or numerous other scenarios, this EP would shine.
