Rose; Lila: We Animals

Hitting like a less bombastic Bastille crossed with the introspection of Portishead and laced with Adele, or Imogen Heap, We Animals is the enigmatic pop of Canadian/Californian Lila Rose. A young lady with a deep love and respect for the animal kingdom and confusion for much of humanity's disdain towards it - and a deep love of music – this debut piece combines those thoughts, and many more, to look to provide a deep, dark insight into how we work… or don't...

The basis of the music comes in the shape of synth grumbles which are augmented by every imaginable percussive click, clank, slap and thump to draw you in to a place which often feels stark and spartan but which also provides stabs of dazzling colour. It's a full on approach and one which can veer from engaging to stand offish. At its heart there's a nod to progressive music in the shape of Radiohead and there's also a sharp shard of electronica at play. Yet with the attack determinedly unvarying, things can become overbearing, leaving the vocals from Lila to take on too much work, impressive though they are.

It would be easy to imagine the dark clicks and clarion vocals of "This Could Be HA" rotating on the music channels and the mainstream will see the surging synths and varied vocals of "Nothing To Lose" as challenging and brooding and yet it's easy to allow them to slide by without really taking them in. Attacks do vary, with "NOW" almost religious in its layered vocal beginning and "Easy Love" introducing an almost Alan Silvestri like piano line, yet not even here can the percussive bluster be resisted leaving all of the songs sounding too closely related, even when a different ethos is explored. I can't stress enough that Lila Rose has a magnificent voice, Adelesque in places, capable of Kate Bush like controlled crazy in others, nor can I suggest that she doesn't often make you sit up and take notice of what she's capable of with seeming ease. Yet once We Animals stops spinning, there's just not enough going on behind her enigmatic voice to keep you captivated. A more pop audience may well find this to be darkly delightful and I wouldn't be shocked if super-stardom isn't just around the corner for this young lady. However I can't see myself revisiting We Animals any time soon.

Track Listing
1. Stars
2. Tracking
3. Confessions
4. This Could Be Ha
5. Nothing to Lose
6. World on Fire
7. Now
8. Servant
9. Easy Love
10. Misunderstood
11. We Animals

Added: June 12th 2015
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Lila Rose online
Hits: 1372
Language: english

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