Review: Sera – Rocks! EP

7/10

Review: Sera - Rocks! EP

Rocks! is a selection of the rockier tracks of Sera’s Little Girl LP. Locally, Sera is predominantly known for her folk edged, piano driven country music but this 6 track offering is that bit heavier than her other material. The EP opens with the beautiful Through the Wild featuring Sera’s celtic vocal washing over a foundation of piano and bass building up to a rockier chorus incorporating sparse drums. It has an epic feel to it that reminds me a little of Of Monsters and Men’s style.

Following this is the lighter This Town in which she touches on the geographical beauty coupled with the seasonal pain and misery of people who work in major tourist areas in conjunction with climate change. A poignant subject within a well executed track.

Then comes the wonderful Storm Cloud which is another lyrically poignant song about how your own problems in a relationship can seem to eclipse bigger issues in the world. Set to an acoustic guitar driven soft rock backdrop it has just the right level of pace and volume to be big while maintaining the soft rock edge.

Betwixt rockier counterparts comes Optimist with a refreshingly quiet, piano driven and slow-paced feel that reminds me of some of Rae Morris’ early material.

Then comes something of a surprise with Through the Night which opens with some heavier drums and overdriven electric guitar playing a blues riff and features Sera’s vocals taking on a dark, wolf-like edge as she howls over the backing. This is definitely a stand out track and in spite of it’s complete musical contrast to the rest of the tracks, it actually feels quite at home nestled among them.

Finally, we have the beautiful Mond em Eiliad which finds the bi-lingual songstress flicking into her native Welsh tongue. It is “meant to be poetic and abstract, and more about trying to explain the feeling of an encounter in moments and emotion and art, rather than in actions and words.” I don’t profess to speak Welsh so can’t confirm! But it is a beautiful language and backed with strings to accompany a lovely chord progression it is a very pretty song to behold. Furthermore, it builds in a crescendo to the end and finishes on a high.

Overall it’s a great and eclectic offering from Sera and in tune with Folkstock’s ethos, it’s building on traditional folk to create something new and interesting within the scene. While the genre is unlikely to make a big splash in the pond it’s definitely refreshing and if you’re into folk, country or Nu-folk, very much worth a listen.

Avatar for Thomas S. Day
Thomas S. Day 93 Articles
Fav Band: Bombay Bicycle Club Fave Album: Black Holes And Revelations - Muse Email: tom@xsnoize.com

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