To listen to Ella Montclare's brand new single “I Surrender" seven times, each in a different mix, is an odd experience, but a must-have nonetheless.
Such is Ella's brand of airy, ghostly trip-hop, it has left me completely puzzled as to how it gently breezed past. It was there, and then it was gone, and re-appeared in a different form, and then gone again. I feel uneasy, but I want it to return an 8th time.
It's main line, 'I Surrender to you' surely should make you feel like the capturer, not the captive. Yet these words are to my detriment. Advantage Ella. A white flag has never felt so threatening.
Yet, I must have missed the plot, I doubt this song intended to force this sense of vulnerability onto a male listener. After all it tells the story of a trapped woman with the dilemma of having a carrier or surrendering to love. The artwork in front of me portrays a lone woman in a dark room with a mop over her shoulders. I can only admire the multiple dimensions this song is armed with.
What a compliment to her song writing ability that these words have such an ironic impact. The song owns me in a peculiar manner, but I will have to put that down some great trip-hop song writing.
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The bare bones of the music itself is of the highest quality. Ella's voice fits perfectly to this highly unique sound she has created. She teases with tender whispers and expresses with open elongated cries. The eerie harmonies and bassy violin enhances the melancholy, trapped feel to the song.
The vocals sit so delicately on the stone-like foreground beat, complimented by an equally hardened key rhythm. A tenderly picked treble sounding guitar is an excellent additive to a powerful track.
To be pernickety, I would criticise its confusing and cheap looking artwork, it doesn't give a clear message. The flimsy casing is also a downer, but I'll just close my eyes and listen.
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