Cat Matador The Address EP (Beard Museum)
4/5
By: Liane Escorza
Cat Matador are a five piece from Oxford. They play violin, bass, glockenspiel, drums, guitar and top it up with softly sung vocals. It’s indie folk-pop wrapped in nostalgic warmth and Celtic pale brush strokes, and their EP The Address is an open window to a potentially very exciting album.
It’s a record that’s compelling and intricate even though it breathes simplicity in its core. If any instrument is prone to take centre stage, another blossoms to counterbalance any overpowering effect. Contrary to this being an unsettling process, this swaying of forces proves not just peculiar, but delicate and ultimately brilliant.
We should note two highlights. Firstly, ‘The Address’ is a gently expansive song, like the rest are, creamy and soothing first and then reinforced by harmonies and an explosive interplay of instruments over its pop chorus later on. It’s extremely contagious without being sickening, its short life enhancing the beauty of ephemerality.
Secondly, ‘We Can Change’ displays shy shimmering guitars over rolling quiet drums and an earthy bass before strings enter and rhythmic new movements kick in completed by harmonic sing-alongs and an intense build up to cherish. It’s the type of stuff that should thrill live, if their on stage performance is as enticingly tight as this EP.
Artists in this article: Cat Matador
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