It’s been a year since their stunning debut album Death of a Very Good Machine and Eep are back with their sophomore release Winter Skin. Bands tend to place a bit more time between albums but with a global pandemic stopping live shows and a band full of creative minds there’s no stopping Eep.
The debut album predominately featured the lush vocals of Rosie Varela. This time the band have spread vocal duties between Rosie, Serge, Ross and Lawrence. Having this amount of vocal talent in one band can lead to a disjointed listening experience, however Eep have been very clever with tracklisting the album in order to make this an album that flows. More on that later.
We open on “Hanging on a Wire”. Varela’s familiar voice welcomes us back to the new album. This song punches and drives at pace. Her multitracked vocal leading the charge with chugging guitars and pounding drums following close behind. This is different, was my first thought. It’s a band who aren’t content to simply deliver the same sonic experience again. Everything about “Hanging on a Wire” screams “we’re taking things up a notch folks, better buckle in!”
More new sounds kick off “No Inbetween” with congas supplementing a funky drum intro. I love how when the vocals come in, everything comes in at once. A wall of sound picks you up and carries you along. The glacial guitars are offset by the warmth of the backing vocals with Varela’s charismatic tones soaring. This is another confident and strident offering. Eep are firing on all cylinders.
Oh, and they ain’t for letting up. “A Message to You” lulls us into believing we’re about to hear a dreamy ballad. Once again, the rug is pulled out from under us as a storming affirmation of hope over despair assaults our senses. The call and response in the chorus is jubilant and feels so inclusive, like the band are all around you lifting you up. I’ve listened to this track so many times now. It speaks directly to me and I’m sure many others will find comfort in its words too.
Serge Carrasco steps up to the mic to deliver the ethereal “Angeles”. Sung entirely in Spanish it reflects on the debt we owe our real angels in life and how they have ‘no halo, no wings’. Whilst I don’t speak Spanish myself, Carrasco’s impassioned delivery of the vocal’s cuts through all language barriers. This is another Eep song that you feel as well as listen to. Varela lends a beautifully sympathetic harmony line providing a seamless link allowing this not to feel like a jarring change, rather a gradual handover of the vocal duties.
Varela returns for her final lead of the album on “Today I Woke Up”. This is a stunning psychedelic exploration. Like the Chemical Brothers meeting the Beatles. “Today I woke up and I remembered who I am,” sings Varela with an authoritative authenticity. This isn’t some glib lyric thrown off to fill a line. She means it. This is lived experience in set to music. Undoubtedly my album highlight.
We segue neatly into “Stubblefield” where all four vocalists in the band play a part. Four vocal parts layer up and continue the psychedelic experience we started on the previous song. All centred around a chant of “this isn’t real” and swirling reverse guitar tones we disappear into the magical wonderland Eep create in between.
“Stargazer” traps us in that wonderland as we spiral further into the more experimental side of the band. I’d think Thom Yorke would kill for this track. It continually morphs from glitchy electronica into Hawaiian guitar and on into Radiohead style off kilter melodies. This is such a spellbinding moment on the album. It takes you by surprise yet it feels absolutely right in the context of this album.
We return to the trademark Eep wall of sound for “Time Crunch”. This band make the epic sound so effortlessly you cannot help but smile. Whether it’s the interplay between the drums and bass or the multi-layered vocal parts soaring above the shredding guitars, it’s all just exceptional.
We bid farewell to the album with the chilled sound of “Slow Down”. It’s a gorgeous autumnal song ruminating on the cycle of love and life. “Shed your anxious shaking Winter Skin. And let yourself be something new again.” The perfect end to a perfect album.
They say that the second album is always difficult. Eep completely destroy that myth in producing a work of unparalleled beauty full of special lyrical moments, sonic excellence and structured to perfection. This album really builds on the sounds created on their debut and takes them off into new spaces. What remains the same though, is the heart. The pulsing, beating heart of this band is on show throughout, inviting you in with a massive hug. If you haven’t explored Eep’s sound before now, I hope I have made a case for you to let them into your hearts.
Winter Skin is out now on Hogar Records and is available from the Eep Bandcamp page digitally, on CD, and luscious limited-edition orange vinyl. Follow the Eepsters via their social media channels to stay in-the-know: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
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