With eager praise surrounding debut EP Inside Out, British melodic rockers Finding Kate are now pushing for wider recognition with their first album and fair to say that If I Fall is twelve tracks of melancholy soaked and emotionally powerful rock which just demands attention.
The brainchild and creative outlet of alt-rock vocalist/lyricist Kate Pavli, her London hailing project has earned a potent reputation for its live presence to match that earned by that first EP. Linking up with pianist Chris Charalambides who wrote all the music for the album and a host of additional contributors to If I Fall, Kate is ready to tap into bigger spotlights with a release which ripples with skilful songwriting and strongly enterprising sounds.
Influences listed include Deftones, Flyleaf, Avril Lavigne, Karnivool, The Pretty Reckless, and Evanescence and there is no escaping a comparison to certainly the latter for the Finding Kate sound though you can add Forever Still like essences also helping shape the band’s potent first full-length. If I Fall opens up with the swiftly impressive Drowning, a track soon luring ears and appetite into its imaginative landscape. Little time is needed either to embrace the emotional fuelled voice of Kate, her presence and qualities catching eager attention within seconds of her opening melodic cries. As often common to the album’s character, the song is a fiery simmering of intensity, an emotional cauldron which ignites from time to time but seduces rather than blazes within ears as guitars and keys especially echo the drama of Kate’s vocals.
White Lies follows the strong start, opening up with a rhythmically feistier coaxing which shapes its subsequent infectious character and energy. As with the first, there is something familiar about the song drawing those comparisons earlier mentioned yet both tracks develop a personality of sound and invention built on the potential of uniqueness.
New single, Forever is next, its sombre breath and emotional intimacy bred from the alluring voice of Kate and the plaintively shadowed melodies of Chris’ piano alone; their potency backed by the expansive suggestiveness of guitars and strings as rhythms court a darker climate. It is equally a template behind the emotive theatre of next up Don’t Let Go which is taken to even more intimate depths as Kate’s voice flames across another enticing tapestry of flavours and textures. As strong as its predecessor was, the track easily eclipses it.
Both Get Over You and Inside Out leave ears richly satisfied, the first creating another fiery landscape of sound and heart felt declaration matched by the second in its imagination seducing web of sounds and invention. Strings again add a sublime texture and presence to both songs, especially the former while its successor enthrals through that unpredictable and mouth-watering array of invention. It makes a great claim for best song honours within the album though quickly rivalled by Did It Again with its cinematic stringed beauty and the melancholic union of keys and voice.
Through the album’s dynamic yet tender title track and the magnetically sorrowful yet hope lit I’ll Save You, band and release only cement their hold on attention while Semper Fi explores arguably the album’s most adventurous creative scenery in its impassioned roar. It is fair to say there is a bit of a surface similarity which wraps many of the songs within If I Fall, though digging deeper frequently reveals a kaleidoscope of real individual imagination, but this track is an openly unique proposal to stir ears and enjoyment.
The dark vocal/piano romance building It’s Over captivates from its first breath and note straight after; a beguiling ballad hard to be anything but taken with before Gone brings the album to a fine and memorable close with its emotion soaked roar which pleasures with ease.
If I Fall shows that Finding Kate may have yet to find a truly distinct voice in their sound but the potential is a loud promise within their first album and its enjoyment rather easy to find.
If You Fall is released November 18th with pre-orders now taken @ https://findingkate.bandcamp.com/releases
http://www.findingkatemusic.com/ https://www.facebook.com/FindingKate https://twitter.com/FindingKate_
Pete RingMaster 16/11/2016
Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright
Tied Down opens with the mighty roar and anthemic insistence of Scars which from the off is a pleasingly unpredictable and ferocious proposal. Additionally featuring Jens Berglid on drums and Dennis Post on guitar, the track immediately presents a grouchy and volatile incitement soaked in the gripping voice and delivery of Schønning. Even having devoured previous releases hungrily, her vocal prowess never fails to impress each and every time and especially shinning and exciting in the album opener backed by the equally dramatic tenacity of Haastrup. Continuing to create an enthralling web of spicy grooves, intensive energy, and a growling resourcefulness as potent as the raw emotion driving the song, the song makes for a formidable start to the album.
Awake the Fire opens up the release and instantly grips the imagination with its initial tangy grooving. It is irresistible bait continuing intermittently across the song, holding its own against bulging rhythms and hungry riffs unleashed by the band. Once the ever compelling voice of Schønning takes ears in her potent hands, drums seem to elevate in boldness and intensity whilst the guitars cast a sonic tapestry as spicily aggressive as it is virulently imaginative. There feels like there is a new confidence within the song, indeed EP, compared to the band’s previous and seriously impressive offerings, every element of the song from writing to sound bearing a creative swagger and almost volatile passion. The track is a masterful roar of melodic and heavy rock, alone ensuring any old references to bands like Evanescence and Lacuna Coil are now redundant. Forever Still has evolved into something wholly unique, a fact quickly reinforced by the second song on the EP.
The EP opens with the spellbinding Black Rose, a song which instantly has ears and imagination involved through the evocative keys of Platon, and increasingly seduced by the siren-esque tones of Hansson emulated in potency by those of Ferhm. Rhythmically the song is reserved yet striking enough to support the expressive narrative of vocals and piano as they colour the song with feisty elegance. It is a catchy and welcoming start to the release matched by the contrasting shadow wrapped presence of Deception which follows. Led by the mellow yet angst lined tones of Ferhm, the song cradles ears and thoughts in a provocative embrace of emotional balladry. The drums of Sandberg create a brooding drama behind the core refection of voice and piano, an almost epic shadow aided by the equally haunted lure of Jönsson’s bass, whilst all combined leaves attention and pleasure easily entranced.
The chilled winds of My Enemy embrace ears first, accompanied by a vocal narrative of gothic fairy tale breeding. The song gradually brews up a melodic tempting around them, the provocative guitar and keys shaped imagination of Farlight draping the brooding rhythmic frame sculpted by drummer Alex Stowe and bassist Emmanuel. It is a tantalising proposal swiftly accentuated by the siren-esque expression and tones of Mary Red Mallow, her voice an inviting romance in the darker atmosphere of the music. There is more to the encounter than a gothic and dark rock proposal though, an electronic enterprise blossoming across the enjoyable start to the EP and providing the track with a flourish in its climax.
grooves, an essence which colours the whole song which also slips into something more reserved for the start of Walker’s vocals. Its catchiness is never far from the surface though especially with the bouncy beats of drummer Roman Drummond and dark basslines of Lloyd Entwistle making sure feet and thoughts are easily engaged across the song’s vibrant presence.
riffs and sonic enterprise cast by guitarists Mark Holden and Jane Hebenton, the latter’s twin Helen providing dark portentous shadows with her brooding basslines to the mix. It is a masterfully magnetic entrance to song and release, which as it grows and brews in intensity, continues the charm offensive through the excellent mellow tones of Tom Buxton. Finally settling into a firm and contagious stride, as guitars and vocals spread evocative and harmony soaked expression respectively, the song almost growls in creative contentment and melodic temptation. It is an enthralling encounter which just gains in strength and depth over time.
Mode, and March Violets in their pop rock time. It is a vibrant and compelling song as bright as a sun but is also equipped with pleasing shadows, the well-lit pop stroll veined with darker elements of gothic and symphonic rock. The simmering crystalline opening sparkles against the excellent tones of Redd, her voice a blend of Amy Lee and Alison Moyet, and the beginning a mesmeric charm upon the ear. Soon electro beats make their punchy entrance to offer a little uncertainty but it all blends into a tantalising expanse of heated melodic wash, every note and vocal touch wrapping tenderly yet firmly around the ear and beyond. Whether stepping into a reserve of passionate enterprise or a contagious dance of pure pop temptation, the artists and song offers a lingering thrilling embrace which is impossible to refuse.