Review Summary: Too young to quit. Here we have a revelation.
The Preatures is a five piece group coming from Sydney, promising Aussie land. Enthusiasts, what they do can only be regarded as genuine artwork, although there's plenty to improve and much more to show. The opportunity to show part of that art came last year, when the band released EP
Is This How You Feel and rose to the spotlight of radio stations. Because of a single EP, they've made it to Europe and the US. They aren't, however, your usual underrated (or sometimes overly glorified) Coachella newbie. Very far from that, the integrity in which they present their work is fitting: it doesn't try to be bold, although it fails exquisitely in doing so.
The failure is one of a kind. "Is This How You Feel?", the song which prompted them to the great stages, is a funky, pop tribute to the 70's scenario of dance house based compositions. It's a charming upbeat rock piece, a provocation that would characterize sexualized music. It doesn't though, because the music is not taken control of (nor is its lyrical content subjected to such misfortunes), and instead is given agency. Allow me a paradox: throughout the EP, the band manages to conduct their work under ways that don't feel forced, attaching a freshness to it and an independence that just shouldn't be there; they do it all with discipline, however.
That independence is best shown in the way the group distributes their sound: one moment it's electric, splashed, maniac guitar strokes as in "Manic Baby", but the other moment it reverberates with tension, echoing a lament with the aid of back vocals in "Revelation (So Young)". Lead singers Isabella Manfredi and Gideon Bensen both give these songs their whole, often singing in a duet. It may sound unusual, for a handful of pop tunes hanging under the lights of rockabilly subculture, that the band would go down that road. This approach, having a male/female interlude here and there, is perhaps best fit for a 50's country record. Surprisingly, though,
Is This How You Feel also falls under that category, sort of. One is forced to reckon country turned modern in "Dark Times", a transformation made possible with the help of jerky synths and explosive guitar-work.
If all of this isn't enough, there's no room for dissatisfaction: "All My Love" kicks off with an ambient-like atmosphere, where both Manfredi and Bensen sing in declaration, crooning wistfully, in a lightly drums-led melody. The song is seductive in a different way than, for example, EP's title track, probably because it builds around a downtempo effect. Accordingly, while in "Revelation" the band tries to alert and shock, with Manfredi powerfully delivering the message, here it's more like an invitation to a trance.
This is The Preature's golden gem. No matter what they do next, this EP will always be what distinguishes them, whether because of its rawness or because of its unplanned boldness. There's a major flaw: the fact that the EP, besides its disciplined craft, may mislead listeners. It's not a matter of pacing, but merely of structure and conceptualization. With
This Is How You Feel, The Preatures don't follow a definite conceptual line, rather focusing in presenting a number of different ideas; and while that in no way diminishes the music, the final product does suffer from its lack of a "north". That is no reason to shun listeners, though. Given ripe ideals, the band plans a new release in late 2014, but for the time being, The Preatures simply ask you to sit and listen, no need for drinks. The revelation is: it is irresistible.
