aaamusic | On 09, Apr 2012

Madam is a London blues based band led by the voice of ex actress and singer songwriter Sukie Smith. Musically there are similarities with PJ Harvey and Portishead.
Madam’s debut album In Case Of Emergency was released on the Reveal label in February 2008, to some acclaim.
Their second 8 track album Gone Before Morning is released on Shilling Boy Records. It combines elements of trip hop, western gothic and Europop.
You Lead I Follow is about a neglected lover who pleads with her partner to save her and fears that she’s losing her mind. The Ground Will Claim You has a sinister and spooky tone about the inevitability of falling and the mood in Weekend Love, erotic and beautiful, is even more unsettling.
Gone Before Morning is icily minimalistic. There’s shade but very little light. The songs about lost loves, dangerous snakes, murder and criminal deeds are filled with regret, sadness and weariness. Any brief optimism is quickly swept away and replaced by something black, fragile and sultry.
The gritty, smoky feel will not appeal to everybody, but the dark, smouldering atmospherics may grow on you the more you listen.

★★★★★

Anthony Weightman