Album Review
Polly Scattergood – Arrows
Arrows is the second album from young Colchester singer songwriter Polly Scattergood. Like her 2009 self titled debut this album showcases her fine emotional songwriting and ethereal vocals rather nicely. It has less of a folk feel, though and may even be slightly poppier in places, the keyboards and electronic sounds creating a rich and melodic backing, but Scattergood’s voice is still the clear focus.
The lyrics contain lots of fantasy imagery but manage to stay clear of too many clichés. The emotional content is high throughout and the almost childlike yet always passionate vocal delivery takes the simple and gives it a complex sound. And the ten tracks on the album seem to mesh together rather nicely. It’s not that they sound the same, simply that there is a sense of continuity in the work.
Cocoon begins the album with a track that starts slowly, the vocals low and breathy before becoming more expansive. There is a haunting quality to the song that stays with you. And then it bursts into life as Scattergood lets us share what is inside her cocoon. It’s a lovely way to start an album, and sets the scene nicely for what is to come.
Miss You is perhaps the most surprising track on the album, and one of the best too. It’s basically a good piano ballad sung quite beautifully. Scattergood uses change of pace in her vocals to express the emotions behind the lyrics perfectly and the atmospheric air created gives this soft song a tremendous power. Machines is a wonderful slower track, atmospheric and dripping with emotion. Scattergood’s vocals are heartbreakingly beautiful as she exposes her raw feelings in a quite superb performance.
Falling has a larger production, with some lovely piano work and a guitar solo too. The more expansive sound doesn’t drown out the vocal though. Disco Damaged Kid has an insistent piano melody and a more demanding feel. This one almost breaks into dance territory several times as the beat builds, but always pulls back. The album’s first single Wanderlust, released earlier this year, is a multi layered and richly textured track that soars nicely with its high vocals.
Arrows is a good album, full of the ethereal and the poetic, yet with just a hint of darkness hidden below its sweet sounds. The electronic backing works well in creating a framework for those lovely vocals, and it is for her very personal singing style that Polly Scattergood is perhaps most noteworthy. There is a dreamlike quality to her music, yet also rich wells of emotion that pour from her in a very stylish fashion.
Venue: Arrows
Support Band: Mute