Olive Grove Records made a curious decision when it scheduled an August release date for Esperi's The EP. This is not a summer record. Although each track radiates warmth, it is not the sort that you feel basking on the pebbles of Brighton beach, or as you tread the hard, cracked earth of a summer festival. Instead, the warmth of The EP is akin to that you feel sitting in your living room on a Sunday morning, thermostat set to maximum while a cloudless blue sky and blanket of snow on the ground direct sunlight through your window, adding a crisp edge to the cosy, lazy warmth of the central heating. That's the sort of warmth Esperi is offering here, that and the warmth of nostalgia, The EP is steeped in nostalgia.
On the opening track, 'Dialled', Esperi main man and multi-instrumentalist, Chris Lee-Marr evokes a longing for the carefree freedom of childhood. “Feel the mud between my toes, scrape my knees and tear my clothes, feel the rain cut across my cheek, I will run and swim and climb.” Usually for a singer/songwriter/acoustic guitarist to stand out, he or she needs to have an interesting, strong or peculiar singing voice; Chris Lee-Marr's isn't really any of these. It's pleasant enough, his soft, Scottish vocals aren't offensive or in any way bad, they just don't grab you. While listening I couldn't help likening him to Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol, whether you read that as a compliment or criticism is your own decision.
Luckily for Lee-Marr, his less than captivating vocals aren't really much of an issue for Esperi because he is a talented multi-instrumentalist. Each track on The EP is rich and full of depth. On the first three tracks, the acoustic guitar, the weapon of choice for the singer/songwriter, is accompanied by a cacophony of glockenspiels, xylophones, bass guitars, organs and various tinkly instruments that add texture and that winter warmth to the record.
It is on the last two tracks, however, 'My Tear Dissolved the View' and 'Takkat', where Esperi seems to find its true calling. Lee-Marr puts the guitar down and gets out the mixing deck and drum machine. 'My Tear Dissolved the View' begins with the familiar sound of the glockenspiel but it quickly gets cut up and starts to sound twitchy like something by Chris Clark, Nathan Fake or even from Thom Yorke's solo project. 'Takkat' is very much in the same vein, both are largely instrumental and both ride along on a warm, fuzzy bed of synth bass that evokes the overall nostalgic feeling of the record so much more effectively than Lee-Marr achieved in the first three songs with his vocals.
This EP is a collection of all Esperi's recordings from this year, put together before he enters the studio to record his début album. Chris Lee-Marr has enough musical talent to make a solid, rich, textured conventional singer/songwriter album. However, those of us who prefer something a bit more interesting and those who recognise where Esperi's strengths lie will be hoping for something that's more like Nathan Fake's Hard Islands than Bon Iver's eponymous offering.
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On the opening track, 'Dialled', Esperi main man and multi-instrumentalist, Chris Lee-Marr evokes a longing for the carefree freedom of childhood. “Feel the mud between my toes, scrape my knees and tear my clothes, feel the rain cut across my cheek, I will run and swim and climb.” Usually for a singer/songwriter/acoustic guitarist to stand out, he or she needs to have an interesting, strong or peculiar singing voice; Chris Lee-Marr's isn't really any of these. It's pleasant enough, his soft, Scottish vocals aren't offensive or in any way bad, they just don't grab you. While listening I couldn't help likening him to Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol, whether you read that as a compliment or criticism is your own decision.
