Catherine A.D releases her EP ‘Skeleton Songs’ today (available on iTunes) comprising of five stripped down versions of her songs. Despite the back to basics approach at work the songs on offer have quite a lush feel to them, in no small way aided and abetted by Catherine’s vocals which has a rich and seasoned quality and has a lovely tendency to swell and fall in an almost tidal fashion.
Opening with the delicate plucked acoustics and yearning strings of ‘Missiveh’. Catherine shows one of her strengths is her capacity for restraint which showcases the track’s inherent gentility and sense of melancholy. While the second track ‘Over And Over’ adds an almost playful piano motif interspersed with a vocal that almost carries the weight of the world on its shoulders. My personal favourite ‘Populah-la’ with the dense swooning backing and gently driven approach mark this as a lovely midway peak for the collection.
On the other side ‘Carry Your Heart’ layers organs and synths into a melting pot of audio that borders on soundscape territory with shimmering effects and haunted and sheared backward sounds while the closing track is the strident ‘The Heart Wants To Be A Hammer’ with its punchy piano line and slapped percussion. Catherine takes on a worldly and quietly robust vocal stance for this track which is absent (with good reason) from the rest of the songs. As a collection the songs fit together well under the premise of a ‘warts and all’ acoustic EP. Created with no ‘edits’ or ‘second takes’ it shows Catherine as a talented and confident performer and recording in this fashion suits her down to a tee. Definite recommend.
