One 12 months after her debut single ‘Www She Scorching’, Uche Yara stays troublesome to pin down. The Austrian multi-instrumentalist’s early tracks have darted between indie, R&B and psych rock, led by a equally dextrous vocal: spanning ethereal falsettos on ‘Www She Scorching’, pained groans on ‘homesick’ and playful vocalisations on ‘ZUU (Zoo)’. Following her enjoyable, saturated EP ‘Golden Days, ‘Honey’ represents one other left-turn: a extra restrained, singer-songwriter-facing assortment. Whereas it feels insubstantial as an EP, it’s not brief on creativeness or type.
‘Honey’ centres on easy guitar-and-vocal preparations, however Yara’s manufacturing teems with experimental touches, textural contrasts and spatial quirks. Throughout the drums and plucked guitar opening ‘Dead2me’, rimshots ring out and get reversed, whereas sharp reverb modifications give the impression the studio is immediately shrinking and rising. Elsewhere on ‘Inform My Mama’, the gauzy synths and melodic vocalisations are punctured by glitched electronics, metallic scrapes and distant screams.
The EP’s most uncommon factor is Yara’s voice itself. Whereas she typically modifications it with digital processing, just like the heavy AutoTune on ‘Dead2me’, it does loads of shapeshifting by itself: the ethereal supply on ‘Honey, Come Discover Me’, the spat opening of ‘Backstage Once more’, and the wealthy, trembling baritone on ‘Not Far From Dwelling’. Poignantly, whereas ‘Backstage Once more’ embraces modern R&B vocals, ‘Not Far From Dwelling’ recollects The Ink Spots: progenitors of that sound from a near-century in the past.
Lyrically, nonetheless, the EP typically feels under-formed. ‘Not Far From Dwelling’ displays feeling adrift, revisiting her venture ‘Yesterday I used to be In London // Homesick’, however is relatively obscure: “I’m wondering if it looks like,” she croons, “sentimental now.” The exception is the extra advanced ‘Backstage Once more’, reckoning with how the recent pleasure of performing – “my heroes on an enormous stage / however now I’m a hero too” – will be deflated by old school loneliness.
The largest problem with ‘Honey’ considerations coherency. Whereas there’s an total air of melancholy – ‘Honey’ looks like a pure counterpoint to the extra upbeat ‘Golden Days’ – it lacks sufficient thematic and sonic focus to really feel like a totally realised EP. Equally, it doesn’t decide to all-out eclectism: ‘Inform My Mama’ bridges the chasm between ‘Not Far From Dwelling’ and ‘Backstage Once more’, however these aesthetic leaps are a part of Yara’s attraction.
‘Honey’ could have its flaws, nevertheless it factors in direction of an thrilling future: one the place Yara takes the reins on a longer-form venture, giving sufficient house to her experimental leanings, theatricality and vary.
Particulars
- Launch date: December 6, 2024
- Report label: GOLDENDAYS FM
