Red Vanilla lay out the tone of their second EP with the opening track, ‘Electric Blue’. The EP opens with a slow, gradual build-up based more on synths, reminiscent of Blue Weekend, before suddenly exploding into a heavier style with the whole band playing, with particular focus on the guitars. This sets the tone for the rest of the EP, which the band says has some of their heaviest and also poppiest songs to date.
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On the poppier side, ‘Ask Her If She’s Happy’ retains the electric guitar, but is more stripped back and has a more introspective quality to it. The texture of the song rises and falls throughout, helping to emphasise both sides of the EP. ‘Play Me Something New’ is entirely acoustic, albeit with some additional synths in the background, bringing with it a romantic direction to the album. In particular, it sounds more like begging someone to say more than demanding someone to go. Similarly, ‘Sunkissed Pools’ is also an acoustic number, gentler than the rest of the album and quietly fading out with some synthesiser drones.
Meanwhile, the other songs on the EP demonstrate the band’s heavier ambitions. The track that immediately follows ‘Electric Blue’, ‘Hazy’, is a full-band effort showing a louder, bigger, and angrier side to the band, with a pounding rhythm section and soaring riffs. Similarly, ‘I Thought I Had It’ is a faster, breakneck rock song, with only a few short moments without the electric guitars to let the listener catch their breath. ‘Oh No, I Got Older’, which closes the album, is one last demonstration of the heavier side of the band, although, to ease the listener out, it’s more restrained than the other rock-focused songs on the album. This is capped off with a gentler outro that fades out to close the album, albeit the coda to this song does feel like it goes on slightly longer than necessary.
Photo by Jos Rodriguez @boatsnjos
On Where I Should Be, Red Vanilla demonstrate the range of their sound, showcasing a promising rock band whose potential will likely be realised further on future releases.
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Review written by Charlie Valentine
Charlie is a fan of heavy and experimental music from Liverpool. They enjoy discovering new artists and styles, and are working towards more research in extreme music and its scenes.