She Made Me Do It – Otherworldly EP

By RingMaster Review on March 23, 2021 • ( 0 )

In recent times, among many things we look forward to each year a new creative outing with She Made Me Do It is a highly anticipated moment. 2019 was lit up by the Drenched EP and last year provided another major high point with the release of the Scorched EP. Now the inimitable duo has unveiled the Otherworldly EP, another offering which no matter the hopes and expectations laid out before it exceeds all in adventure and imagination.

Once again Shaheena Dax (Rachel Stamp) and Will Crewdson (Rachel Stamp, Adam Ant band) unite their craft and imagination to forge an adventure which bears their creative experiences and inspirations whilst weaving new invention, uniting them in something unique to the band. With their live drummer, Joe Holweger (Adam Ant Band), providing the rhythms, Otherworldly, unsurprisingly given previous encounters, is a multi-flavoured encounter of the band’s alternative electro rock seeded sound. Across six tracks it reaps the fertile essences of various styles and draws them into the pair’s inimitable sound and imagination; each song emerging as memorable and striking as anything before.

The EP opens with its voracious title track, the song a fizzing slice of animated electro pop. Its calm electronic coaxing easily lured ears as too the subsequent bolder melodic beckoning of Crewdson’s guitar. As swiftly the contrasting union of Dax’s radiant tones and her darkly grumbling bass escalated the temptation, the track in full control as beats clip the senses with similar esurience. Seductively haunting and imposingly robust in equal measure once the song fully erupts, it is irresistible sound and drama in tandem.

The outstanding start is more than matched by the following Confessional Day. Immediately a rousing hook entangles round ears, Crewdson’s hook mastery again inescapable as the song reveals its raucously addictive punk ‘n’ roll escapade. Again there is inherent drama in the veins and detail of a She Made Me Do it song, Dax as dramatic in presence and voice as the invention shaping the evolving landscape of the outstanding new wave spun track.

Pure suggestion and intrigue infests the electronically atmospheric rise of next up Nowhere Land. Keys surround the senses but from within the mist an enchanting melody rises though that is just another ingredient in the ever changing body of the track. Crewdson’s guitar again spins a web of hooks and intrigue coated wiring which nestles magnetic ally across kindly biting rhythms. Addiction barely covers the effect of the song on our ears, every moment and new turn breeding greater lust for one of the classic post punk pop songs.

Through the nagging prowess of Undeniable, itself a virulently invasive slice of alternative rock/pop persuasion, and the sinister sci-fi punk ‘n’ roll of Never Sleep, the EP only burrowed deeper under the skin and into the psyche. Each song is a bed of unpredictability and catchy trespass, the exceptional second especially fascinating in its creative theatre and animated imagination driven by the unique enterprise of Crewdson’s guitar.

The EP concludes with Endgame, a song revelling in glam and punk rock essences within an electro rock tempest which is as hungrily catchy as it is tenaciously dark and menacingly flirtatious. It provides a superb end to another stunning adventure with She Made Me Do It.

Truthfully our words barely do justice to the rich textures and ingredients making up Otherworldly, each track within a tapestry of unpredictable and fluid enterprise. In many ways it is typical Dax and Crewdson creativity but as each release before it, the EP reveals a new playground of sound and intimation to explore and greedily enjoy which makes you utter the words, their best yet.

The Otherworldly EP is out now; available @ https://shemademedoit.bandcamp.com/album/otherworldly-e-p