aaamusic | On 03, Dec 2012

This is a very fine EP indeed from indie oddball Eli Mardock. A fine assembly of inventive and very different tracks keep things interesting throughout whilst retaining stylistic consistency and featuring admirably dense songwriting, allowing numbers to develop and unravel beautifully.
The World Yawns is a richly woven piece filled with lush, inventive textures and intriguing harmonies. Despite being comprised of different sections, the song feels like a cohesive entity with a full and effective narrative arc. The amount of different sounds used and intelligently married together wonderfully complements the alluring melodies and stirring, chromatic harmonies.
After such a great start, Cut Me Open doesn’t quite live up to the standard set, but is still a decent effort. Much simpler and less original, it is an amiable and well realised number that is also very catchy. Things take a more unusual turn with Sex Power. Shimmering synth textures, an edgy string ostinato and beguiling chromaticism go nicely with the bizarre Bowie-esque vocals. Everything is then stripped back for You Should Have Seen Your Face, a melancholy ballad that has more than a hint of Thom Yorke about it. This could also be said of creepy Creator Computer and its peculiar chromatic synth riffs and wavering sustained vocals.
The EP finishes with NE Sorrow Is Born, a dreamy and hypnotic slow number, purely instrumental, that you could imagine working as a superb piece of film music due to its powerful sense of atmosphere and skilful blend of instrumental textures. It provides a fitting end to an excellent piece of work, littered with imagination and musical panache.

★★★★★

Rupert Uzzell