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The Cambridge dictionary lists “distill” in the verb form as: “to get or show only the most important part of something”. In layman’s terms; get rid of the mediocre and leave only the good stuff. For Verity White, and co-writer and husband Alex White, this meant a shift from a more traditional band format, playing more conventional rock music, to a duo playing whatever the hell they wanted, playing the type of music that they enjoy. And that’s the keyword here “enjoy”. No point in being a musician if you are only playing the kind of music that you are perceived to have to play to fit into a scene. Verity White is, however, the proverbial square peg in a round hole and doesn’t conform to the norm, in all honesty, she’s a breath of fresh air (who decides what is the “norm” anyway? Society? Peers? – as Delain put it so eloquently in ‘We Are The Others’…” Normal is not the norm, It’s just a uniform…”).
Enter stage left ‘Distilled’, a new six-track EP where the shared love of electronics from both Verity and Alex comes roaring through and tosses the rule book out the window. If the track calls for some moody saxophone, and why the hell wouldn’t it? – then here comes Alex with his saxophone for the mysterious, alluring Bjork-meets-Groove Armada-tinged ‘A Thousand Times’. Enchanting, siren-like vocals from Verity that raise the neck hairs time after time, heaps of synths, samples, and loops from Alex on a guitar-free track that would feature heavily on the “comedown” disc of an old Hed Kandi Summer compilation CD. If the words “guitar-free” cause you to break out in a cold sweat then fear not as there are plenty of strong riffs to be had throughout the EP. Opening track ‘Broken Promises’, for instance, manages to perfectly weld together guitars, synths, and some beefy percussion (fantastic if you are listening through cans with the sound, way, way up) all in the background while the unmistakable Verity does what she does best: enthrall and mesmerise. On the magical ‘Just Try It’, the Gibson is ramped up an extra notch or two, as it is on the pacey ‘In Me’, the charm of both songs being that the listener has no idea what is lurking around each corner, and when moments such as the Trent Reznor-like tones land around the two-minute mark on the latter, then it is a genuine thrill.
‘Road To Nowhere’ is packed with power riffs, and a pulsating, hypnotic percussive groove. Some of the dark electronic arrangements ensnare the listener with hooks that are bloody massive, loads going on in the background, and again, perhaps best appreciated through a decent pair of cans. Ending on the edgy ‘Another Angle’, which puts keyboard warriors firmly in the crosshairs…“Who gave you the right to speak to me? Your words a knife that’s in your hand…You think I crave approval, But I work another angle, I care about my future, And that’s not for you”– ‘Distilled’ is as fresh and experimental as it gets. Anyone with a playlist that includes seminal electronic acts such as Nine Inch Nails, Gary Numan, New Order, Depeche Mode, and Bjork will find much to enjoy within, likewise, if a bit of CHVRCHES or PVRIS sneaks onto your playlist, then you will want to check Verity out. A performer with one hell of a range (at times ‘A Thousand Times’ is jaw-dropping), and on many occasions listening to ‘Distilled’ sparks memories of discovering Hazel O’Connor’s ‘Breaking Glass’ for the first time – can’t really pay a higher compliment than that.
Available now, more information here.
Review – Dave
Photo Credits: Adam Kennedy
