SHE PLAYS – SHE PLAYS EP
She Plays is a strange document. Local producer Dave Hammer has written all the songs, played many of the instruments, recorded and mixed the thing; it’s his project, but he’s not the focus of these songs. Instead, each of the four tracks features a different female singer on lead vocals – ladies Mikaela Ackerman, Queen Mima, Chelsie Gardiner, Maja Draganic. All great vocal talents of the Triple J variety, Gariner sounds something like Adalita of Magic Dirt, Draganic is some kind of Nico/Bjork hybrid, Ackerman an indie pop-er, Mima as PJ Harvey? A short spectrum of female voices, which is great in theory, but Hammer and co.’s backing tracks don’t hold the project together like they should – worst is the alt pop on lead track Sleep Alarmed, which actually feels like a backing track, overproduced and flat, overpowered by a pretty average vocal performance. Where the band has more attitude, it hangs together much better – rockers Vunerable Heart, The Difference is Greater Than The Sum – and closing track Slusaj (Zasto Ljudi Ne Cuju Dok Pricam) is more compelling still, Draganic lapsing in and out of English over a keys-driven, slow-burning alt rock composition. She Plays is inconsistent, but interesting and fun by turns.
**
