Playwrite : Playwrite EP

<img src="http://www.qromag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/playwriteplaywriteep.jpg" alt="Playwrite : Playwrite EP" /><br /> Touches of folk, rock, electro and hip-hop come to a beautiful confluence to create accessible, albeit thought provoking, pop. ...
Playwrite : Playwrite EP
8.1 Self-released
2011 

Playwrite : Playwrite EP Australian band, Playwrite, have only been in existence for nine months.  In that time they have quickly become a significant part of the Melbourne music scene.  The dynamic six-piece are one of the most interesting bands on the local circuit, offering a wonderful array of sounds and visuals.  Often compared to the likes of Sufjan Stevens, Yeasayer, Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, and TV On The Radio, the band have carved their own unique space within that broad sonic scope.  They work with a multi-instrumental palette: a myriad percussive soundscape encased in synths, thick bass, nimble guitar work, acoustic rhythms and intermittent saxophone.  Touches of folk, rock, electro and hip-hop come to a beautiful confluence to create accessible, albeit thought provoking, pop.

Their self-released EP contains four tracks, all of which are superb.  The opening song, "Animals Housed", an uplifting, percussively elaborate epic, is arguably the centrepiece of the EP.  "Little Ark" is an intense, menacing cosmological whirlpool sure to excite fans of Sufjan Stevens or Yeasayer; they are similarly champions of rhythmic complexity and dynamic instrumentation.  Likewise "Multiple Universe" delves into electro tones and difficult instrument layering, further displaying their song-writing prowess.  Despite being predominantly uplifting and joyful, Playwrite are a thematically diverse act.  This is most detectable on the closing number, "Black Cloud", which is similar in timbre to Bon Iver. 

Themes of disaster and grief surface, which is of little surprise considering Patrick Holcombe (guitarist), who writes most of the lyrics, hails from Kinglake, which was devastatingly affected in the 2009 ‘Black Saturday’ bushfires.  Playwrite exhibit a sensitivity and sophistication, both on a lyrical and musical level, rarely found in young, nascent bands.  The heartbreaking opening stanza, sung flawlessly by Jordan White, epitomises this restrained poignancy: "Oh no it’s not your fault / There’s nothing you can do / If I were you I’d start walking / You can make thirty miles a day / It don’t seem like much / But you’d be thirty miles away."

Unfortunately, their debut EP is only physically accessible in Australia.  However, it can be found digitally at http://playwrite.bandcamp.com/

MP3 Stream: "Black Cloud"

{audio}/mp3/files/Playwrite – Black Cloud.mp3{/audio}

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