Single Review: Plymouth - 'Cape Town'

Plymouth is the solo project of  Sebastien Christie who writes and produces in his home studio, where he plays guitar, bass, synths and beatpads. This inside knowledge on Plymouth is good to know, as a rookie internet search under ‘artist’, ‘Plymouth’ and ‘Cape Town' only finds suggestions for pipe bands and options for wedding entertainment. Nothing even closely resembling the electro-pop emerging from my speakers.

‘Cape Town’ is a rather pleasant little number, quick to delve into its neat blend of 80’s vibe combined with understated elements of electronics and guitar-pop. A decent reference point being  Bon Iver's self titled release in 2011. ‘Cape Town’ drifts along on a beautifully kick-backed vibe, packing a heap of music shifts into its near five minutes. Pulled together by a warm production that enables each instrument to breathe life into the song, vocal refrains of “keeping your eyes on the road” conjure up images of a care-free road trip with friends, taking ones mind off the drudgery of modern working life.

‘Cape Town’ benefits from a fairly unconventional flow, escaping the overtly-obvious verse-chorus structure and instead providing a constant stream of relaxed musical passages. However, just when the track is really finding its feet, things are brought to a halt with an unexpected, brief guitar outro and spoken word sample that fades away in a haze of effects.

Overall, Plymouth has conjured up something interesting, enjoyable and a little detached from your typical synth pop offerings. I can certainly get on board with this.

Words of DS_Convertible

'Cape Town' is taken from 'Plymouth I' Plymouth's first EP in a series of projects planned for release this year alongside some remixes and instrumental tracks.