Review Summary: The next step.
In early 2014 artist Crooked Sun announced his presence to the world, releasing a short demo EP that, while clearly ‘demonstrating’ his evident talent and niche writing style, suffered from expectedly poor production and a general lack of structural flow. Just shy of a year later,
Sick Songs stands as an improvement in almost every aspect, solidifying the ideas that were abundant on the demo and refining them.
Initially, the most notably improved aspect is the vocals. Opener ‘N.K.W.M.’ offers little in the way of introducing the EP, consisting mainly of floaty synths which were absent on the demo, however the vocals bobbing just below the surface are noticeably at home on this EP. Throughout
Sick Songs the artist adopts a low and gloomy vocal approach, feeling much more comfortable in this deeper range and sounding confident in relation to the comparably ‘unsure’ performance of the past. The melancholy vocals also serve better to compliment the dismal atmosphere created by the bass heavy indie-rock instrumentation. In addition, the production quality has stepped up a notch. Sure, it’s still muddy - but this time ‘round it feels like an
intentional aid to the music, rather than an unavoidable by-product. Whereas previously there existed an unbalanced favouritism to the guitar playing over both the vocals and the nigh-undetectable bass, they instead all coalesce smoothly, neither too prominent nor smothered. In fact, more often than not the bass guitar carries the tracks; a bold departure from Crooked Sun’s guitar-driven beginnings, but it pays off. The aforementioned synths aren’t the only new addition to the Crooked Sun repertoire either. Electronic percussion punctuates the album, carrying a welcome sense of rhythmic presence that keeps each song feeling ‘on track’.
Perhaps the greatest achievement of the album is the overall sense of cohesion. Each track sounds as though it belongs in the EP, and as individual pieces most have both direction and intent; never feeling lost or aimlessly ambling. The product as a whole simply connects. The introductory track transitions smoothly to album highlight ‘No Protecting Me’, a song hinting at influences from bedroom pop act Elvis Depressedly, which in turn flows into the following track ‘Don't Wait’. As perhaps the most reminiscent of Crooked Sun’s first release, the latter track boasts a much stronger guitar presence and a more straight-forward approach. For all it has going for it, the album still doesn't quite maximise its potential. The closer in particular falls flat, and the album itself seems to play on a general downwards gradient in terms of quality, omitting the intro. It's somewhat disappointing to end on an anti-climactic note, although in some ways it does ease the listener out of the album. Despite its shortcomings,
Sick Songs is a promising step in the musical journey of Crooked Sun. The next movement of which has the potential to be a leap.
