Colt
These things can't hurt you now so throw them in the fire
(Something To Listen To / Cargo Records)
UK
By Fabienne T
Emotions, sensations and atmospheres are sometimes very difficult to translate into words. And Colt's debut album is pure emotion.
The unique personality of singer Andrea is all over the CD: in the whiteness of the sleeve, in the oddness of the visuals. The songs are the ones the band wrote and played live under their previous incarnation, Living With Eating Disorders. Take a deep breath and immerse yourself into the band's twisted, yet bewitching universe.
The moody guitars and the organic, distorted electronic sounds mixed with various samples provide an ideal framework for Andrea's evocative vocals.
The singer's naked, poetic words and Jared Hawkes's exquisitely crafted melodies seem to be having a complicated and stormy relationship: sometimes they make delicate love: Fading Softly is caressing; on Feeling, Andrea's soothing, cajoling voice sings over samples of crowds and locusts, and plinky piano notes; Lullaby and Menace are darkly, smoky seductive songs.
But then, there is the painfully gorgeous and sexually charged Bodybag, that sends shivers down your spine. There seems to be a constant ambiguity to Colt's music, a sort of schizophrenia: an innocence constantly endangered by sin; an obsession with the body, at the same time a shelter and the worst enemy; an unholy fascination for darkness and a dialogue with God -on I Talk To God. All this could lead anyone to madness, and we get very close to the point of no return, when the music and the singer sound like they are losing control and they are at each other's throat, the waves of hysteria rising again and again - I Abort and Demon In The Wheels are terrifying. Let yourself be seduced by the poisonous beauty of Colt and their haunting - and haunted - music. You will not regret this deliciously sinful weakness of yours.
More info:
www.coltmusic.co.uk
www.somethingtolistento.com