 They said to be influenced by French chansonniers. But on the other hand, according to their biography they also have experimented with industrial goth-core and power ballads before they moved to ‘highly pleasing, short, acoustic songs about science and love’. It’s the last description, acoustic songs about science and love, that defines ‘As Neat as a New Pin’, the debut album of Empty Set, best. Recorded in and around the house, with the ukulele and the violin as main instruments, Empty Set’s first album is a real eye-opener. The combination of the instruments mentioned before, in fine coordination with the whispering voice of Tommy Ogden and the sad but with subtle humour drenched songs, creates a kind of new folk music that can only be made by French industrial goth-core-folkies-going-acoustic-lovers. Lead track ‘Portia, I Dreamt You Were Real’ is exactly what it sounds like, and so are ‘Alice & Bob (forlorn photon love)’, ‘George, You Must Write Better’ and ‘A Challenge to Copernicus’; melodic, semi-dramatic songs that, thanks to the perfect marriage between voices and instruments, contains a lightness you would only expect in a family friendly 1930’s musical. The winner of the evening, however, is ‘My Girl’s on the Other Side of the World’, which lacks the humour of the other songs, but sounds really like a song you would be happy to play at a campfire on a hot summer evening. The song is, despite its subject, such an inspiration of joy that when you’ve listened to it, you would actually go to the shopping centre, buy yourself a ukulele and campfire and learn to play it. And if you’re not able to learn it, you just throw it in your new campfire. Because that’s kind of the spirit of this song and of the album: little things in life turning into problems. And, sometimes, how to make them disappear. Jesus and Mary Chain cover ‘Some Candy Talking’ and Cole Porter classic ‘You’re the Top’ included, plus an untitled tenth track which shows what the band would have sounded like had they started in 1986, ‘As Neat as a New Pin’ is an oddly refreshing album that keeps fascinating. If you’re looking for something different in music, Empty Set definitely is the place to go to.
Last edited by jack s : May 6, 2009 at 10:46 PM.
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| | | | Overall Rating | | 8 | | Vocals / Lyrics | | 8 | | Musicianship | | 8 | | Production | | 8 | | Creativity | | 8 | | Lastability | | 8 | | Reviewers Tilt | | 8 |
80% | |
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Empty-Castrated-[Industrial]
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Empty Set - As Neat as a New Pin [Album]
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