Subba-Cultcha, London Review
www.subba-cultcha.co.uk
The girl will one day be the star making you sit up and listen to her songs. Why this is not already a fact of life is a dizzying perplexity. With confidence I have championed the absolute existence of her abilities on many occasions and remain as convinced now as then that her arrival on the ‘bigger’ stage is imminent. She can no longer be ignored when making music like this. She is far too listenable to exist in the peripheries and is certainly a kick and a shove better than some of the one-trick ponies who manage to infiltrate our lives and trudge insignificant humdrum psycho-babble through our speakers when they have no business doing so. Of course, it’s the quick hit money merchants closing ranks and opening doors for the latest cash cow to preen, prance and cajole the easily pleased long enough to generate enough ugly dollars for them before leading her/him/them/it over the nearest mountain to tumble in to the ‘surplus to requirements’ ocean below - sinking without a trace and leaving no memory. If Michele Ari does not crash into your life - the proper, well earned way with this EP - then we are a planet of slack-jawed morons born without ears - or fucking sense! Please do not let the precious cargo of our rock & roll music become cluttered with reality show dullards and plastic surgery wannabes who shall do anything for their career (except write their own songs) They wont care long enough to still love you in the morning but Michele shall be there to love you, make breakfast, do the washing up, have intelligent conversations with and come back to you, just to you, every moment of the rest of your life. So grab her curvaceous resonance while you have the chance and thank your lucky stars for that - or you’ll be left upon the shelf with the shallow, the fatties and the mono-syllabic wallflowers. And I know you’d hate the shame of that wrong choice, eh!
As always, the new EP Uncharted Territory whips up a feisty hurricane of post-punk, indie rock, new wave, mod pop au jour across 5 tracks. This time though, more than previous outings, the emotional conflicts Michele has been at battle with are clearly laid out in wounds, victories, lessons learned and lessons forced. On the catchy, yet backbiting . Wounded Man there is an almost contemptuous loathing for the unnamed cause of her bile as she muses ‘on your knees you were humbled’ all neatly sound tracked with a stunning indie/new wave, victorious ’fuck you’skip (consider Kirsty MaColl twinned with Martha Wainwright) The weapons of mass destruction are laid down for the purposes of the title track and a more sentimental, almost pleading desire for something new and unsullied distracts her as she almost begs you to ‘come on don’t ignore me, it’s uncharted territory’ - her honesty and her humanity ( a desire to be loved or at least understood) is something every one of us is born with but don’t convey it so humbly - or so cleverly.
Her greatness for writing a good, uncomplicated song manifests itself with glory - the best thing on the EP - Little Wars deals with (in my opinion) the breakdown in adolescent relationships and all the ferocious violating of the others feelings which that brings ‘the fights and the breakdowns, the crashes and the shakedowns, these little wars’ but, once again, narrated to such an intelligently crafted, hook ridden post-punk/garage pop body of music you wonder if her vitriol is a joke or a deliberate nonchalant head-tossing weapon designed to drive the earner of such words to utter despair. Either way it’s a beauty. On the slower Live Without This we are introduced to a spirited tenacious intent to hike through something that once meant everything but now means nothing . The song begins immediately at the start of a discussion - ‘what does that mean, is that any way to start?’ - and slaloms onwards through the disappearing relationship and the realisation you can only make so many allowances in the name of love, and you’ve used them all up with nothing left to justify still being around. The EP closes with the frivolous seductive beats of Real - a song that makes you think you know what’s on offer but then punishes you for being so one dimensional - it’s possibly unquestionably cool yet bizarre. Clever goodness.
Uncharted Territory is a great collection of emotive, well composed, earthy rock & roll songs with that indie edge that’s always been a massive part of the Michele Ari sound. Her creative fire has been re-fuelled and she sounds stronger both figuratively and literally. There is a natural , effortless easiness to what most definitely wouldn’t be effortless or easy. She’s been through the wars - and this is her story. Intimate, confessional and bittersweet. Maybe music like hers never existed until right now - but regardless, here it is, and it sounds like something new to me.
www.subba-cultcha.co.uk
The girl will one day be the star making you sit up and listen to her songs. Why this is not already a fact of life is a dizzying perplexity. With confidence I have championed the absolute existence of her abilities on many occasions and remain as convinced now as then that her arrival on the ‘bigger’ stage is imminent. She can no longer be ignored when making music like this. She is far too listenable to exist in the peripheries and is certainly a kick and a shove better than some of the one-trick ponies who manage to infiltrate our lives and trudge insignificant humdrum psycho-babble through our speakers when they have no business doing so. Of course, it’s the quick hit money merchants closing ranks and opening doors for the latest cash cow to preen, prance and cajole the easily pleased long enough to generate enough ugly dollars for them before leading her/him/them/it over the nearest mountain to tumble in to the ‘surplus to requirements’ ocean below - sinking without a trace and leaving no memory. If Michele Ari does not crash into your life - the proper, well earned way with this EP - then we are a planet of slack-jawed morons born without ears - or fucking sense! Please do not let the precious cargo of our rock & roll music become cluttered with reality show dullards and plastic surgery wannabes who shall do anything for their career (except write their own songs) They wont care long enough to still love you in the morning but Michele shall be there to love you, make breakfast, do the washing up, have intelligent conversations with and come back to you, just to you, every moment of the rest of your life. So grab her curvaceous resonance while you have the chance and thank your lucky stars for that - or you’ll be left upon the shelf with the shallow, the fatties and the mono-syllabic wallflowers. And I know you’d hate the shame of that wrong choice, eh!
As always, the new EP Uncharted Territory whips up a feisty hurricane of post-punk, indie rock, new wave, mod pop au jour across 5 tracks. This time though, more than previous outings, the emotional conflicts Michele has been at battle with are clearly laid out in wounds, victories, lessons learned and lessons forced. On the catchy, yet backbiting . Wounded Man there is an almost contemptuous loathing for the unnamed cause of her bile as she muses ‘on your knees you were humbled’ all neatly sound tracked with a stunning indie/new wave, victorious ’fuck you’skip (consider Kirsty MaColl twinned with Martha Wainwright) The weapons of mass destruction are laid down for the purposes of the title track and a more sentimental, almost pleading desire for something new and unsullied distracts her as she almost begs you to ‘come on don’t ignore me, it’s uncharted territory’ - her honesty and her humanity ( a desire to be loved or at least understood) is something every one of us is born with but don’t convey it so humbly - or so cleverly.
Her greatness for writing a good, uncomplicated song manifests itself with glory - the best thing on the EP - Little Wars deals with (in my opinion) the breakdown in adolescent relationships and all the ferocious violating of the others feelings which that brings ‘the fights and the breakdowns, the crashes and the shakedowns, these little wars’ but, once again, narrated to such an intelligently crafted, hook ridden post-punk/garage pop body of music you wonder if her vitriol is a joke or a deliberate nonchalant head-tossing weapon designed to drive the earner of such words to utter despair. Either way it’s a beauty. On the slower Live Without This we are introduced to a spirited tenacious intent to hike through something that once meant everything but now means nothing . The song begins immediately at the start of a discussion - ‘what does that mean, is that any way to start?’ - and slaloms onwards through the disappearing relationship and the realisation you can only make so many allowances in the name of love, and you’ve used them all up with nothing left to justify still being around. The EP closes with the frivolous seductive beats of Real - a song that makes you think you know what’s on offer but then punishes you for being so one dimensional - it’s possibly unquestionably cool yet bizarre. Clever goodness.
Uncharted Territory is a great collection of emotive, well composed, earthy rock & roll songs with that indie edge that’s always been a massive part of the Michele Ari sound. Her creative fire has been re-fuelled and she sounds stronger both figuratively and literally. There is a natural , effortless easiness to what most definitely wouldn’t be effortless or easy. She’s been through the wars - and this is her story. Intimate, confessional and bittersweet. Maybe music like hers never existed until right now - but regardless, here it is, and it sounds like something new to me.