To the best of my knowledge, the last truly influential contemporary musicians to hail from Hereford were the three lads from the original Pretenders, so can MERMAID KISS, a duo from Kington in that goodly county again put the area on the map?
Well, judging by the contents of their debut, "The Mermaid Kiss Album" that's debatable. In terms of ability and credentials, you can't fault them. Instrumentalists Jamie Field and 'third' member Andrew Garman certainly know their onions in terms of virtuosity, while in vocalist Evelyn Downing they have a formidable front person, but somehow the overall results never emulate the sum of the parts.
The two main faults this reviewer would find would be: 1) too many of these songs are grimly medium-paced. For instance, songs like "Blind" and "This Feeling" are all very well on the surface, but heard together - even allowing for Evelyn's seductive vocals - they all rely on similar production techniques and become too much of a muchness to truly tell apart. 2) The sound of the album is too overtly '80s to work as an entity post-Millennium. Indeed, if I have to listen to the tinkly pianos and synth washes of an obvious ballad like "Spirit" once more, I may do something I regret. Elsewhere, attempts to be ethereal a la Portishead/ Goldfrapp (such as "Like Water") also fall flat, while "Soundchaser" should just be re-named "Ambulance Chaser." Sorry.
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To be fair to Mermaid Kiss, they do have some nice ideas. "Fated," for instance, possesses undeniably likeable chord changes and glorious vocals, while the grittier, domestic violence scenario that is "Some Days Are Like This" is also much more like it and the slower longing of "Write My Name In Stars" fares well as a deviation from the regular blueprint. Throw in "Whisper", with its' rhythmic, funky edge and stabs of piano and you've got the makings of some truly decent pop tracks emerging from the murk.
For now, though, "The Mermaid Kiss Album" isn't enough to convince as a whole. "I never tire, I am desire," Evelyn coos on "Mermaid Kiss" itself, sounding suitably sultry and provocative. Sadly, this is one song from the siren which can be resisted for the time being.
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