TUNNG's first album 'This Is...' set the benchmark for these digital folksters. It's an exquisite work of art, strange and ethereal, quirky, dark, and eerie. Their trick is to combine intricate guitar playing with subtle electronic effects in order to create an atmosphere of enchantment. Their new single 'Woodcat' is definitely produced along the same vein as their previous work. It's nice to see they've managed to keep hold of their original alchemy.
'Woodcat' is a magical tune that verges on the Fairy Tale - describing how a man wants to be turned into a hare so he can join his girlfriend, who was previously turned into a hare when she did something (assumingly) bad in the village, but we don't know what. Typical folklore, albeit it without the murder or incest.
The tune is delightful - sounding ever so slightly like the music to Camberwick Green - building gently until they produce a fierce calmness which is entirely pleasant to listen to. The lyrics remain characteristically deadpan and ominous - "I miss your hard edges... I miss having coffee in bed with the TV" - and as always, the electronic effects are used as a delicate instrument, rather than a sound which dominates the song.
|
The only reservation with 'Woodcat' is that perhaps Tunng push their sense of 'quirky' a bit too far in places. At one point the chorus is split up so that each band member sings one syllable of thesentence. "Just". "Like". "They". "Did". "When". "You". "Did". "What". "You". "Did".
It is very silly indeed. Not that the subject matter of the song is completely sensible, but it disrupted the flow a bit.
Jerky vocals aside though, 'Woodcat' is ace. Go forth and investigate.
|
