Fable is the latest promising young talent to emerge from our Brighton shores. There isn't a lot of information on the ground about the 19 year old but, according to her facebook page, she's currently working on a début album with the trip-hop collective Archive and has been featured on a song from the forthcoming new Orbital album. Archive are one of those acts who have never really taken off in England, despite gaining a lot of popularity in Europe and this Parasite EP is the first fruits of their work collaborating together.
The songs are built around 'keys & noises' from Darius Keeler and Danny Griffiths. Although there are drums and guitar on the tracks, the way the EP has been produced means there are very few organic sounding parts apart from Fables vocal – it is a very electornic sounding release. The EP opens with 'Stranger In My Head' an eerie atmospheric piece with the hookline “stab me before I change again” which sounds like it could be sung from the perspective of a Vampire or Werewolf, wishing to be put out of their misery before they become the monster within. It starts with vocal and a synth with arppegios and jerky changes which could easily have been inspired by Radiohead, but the sound is more industrial, it's almost like something Vangelis would come up with. It takes two minutes before the beat kicks in for a second verse and chorus followed by a final section built around a repeated distorted kick drum on the first beat of each bar with the vocals building to crescendo over a counterpoint. At the end the kick continues alone with a discordant tone that reminds me of 'nails down the blackboard' moments of the soundtrack to Psycho.
'Stranger In My Head' blends seamlessly into 'Fragile', with a driving, tense build constructed, again, from what sounds like synthetic instrumentation. It slowly builds adding more and more tension with a powerful vocal delivery, before breaking down to a lone, heavily processed guitar, a release that leads us into the next section which opens up to a pumping groove without losing the tension. It's a linear arrangement, with a deep-house sound, which concentrates on mood and groove, there are vocal hooks but there isn't the same repetition as you'd expect from a traditional pop song – the track keeps moving and progressing and it takes a while before 'we're so fragile' is established as a refrain. There are some lovely subtleties within the synths, particularly in the sparser instrumental sections.
'Fragile' ends with some eerie ambience which fades into the arpeggio and vocal beginning of 'I Speak Words'. This tense intro breaks into a strange, jerky gothic groove. Fable's vocal is strong throughout, tense, powerful, emotive. The EP is a great opening statement from a new artist on the scene, it shows off her talent as a vocalist and establishes a sound that's moody and evocative. I'm interested to see the band, featuring members of Archive, perform live. As the EP sounds so electornic I wonder how this will translate to the stage, whether they use lots of equipment to manipulate their sound on stage or whether the group takes a different approach remains to be seen. Our first chance will be the EP launch at rock'n'roll pub The Monty on October 22nd. I'm looking forward to it!
Adam Kidd
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