EP Review: TARANTINA - 'Organs'
TARANTINA follows up her debut EP, ‘Teething’ with impressively innovative dark pop meets avant-garde EP, ‘Organs’.
Opening with the visceral track ‘Polarise (intro)’ TARANTINA kicks things off with nervy, pulsating, surreal production; an unorthodox and exciting introduction to her forward-thinking, second EP. ‘Hunter’ follows, opening sparsely and atmospherically with melodic guitars, allowing TARANTINA’s soulful and ethereal vocal take the lead and track would sit nicely on a playlist alongside Kate Bush and London Grammar. ‘Hunter’ evolves into a soundscape of brooding electronics, but still feels spacious and has room for little sci fi twinges. A really powerful soundscape to accompany the suspicion of betrayal that the narrative consists of as TARANTINA hunts for the truth from a loved one.
’Heal’ opens with sombre piano chords and TARANTINA doesn’t hide the sadness and defeatism in her vocal as this song becomes an incredibly moving and chilling ballad, leaving its listener feeling haunted by the pain and honesty depicted in its narrative. But there’s catharticism as the track ends with layered celestial vocals, offering a liberating release from the dense emotion exhibited throughout the rest of the song.
Current single, ‘One Eye’ takes the EP into punchier territory, looping back round on some of the nervy production seen on ‘Polarise (intro)’. TARANTINA’s vocal is untethered from the weightier aspects of production, dreamily floating out of the soundscape as the track flickers with melodic, glacial textures. There’s a sense of mystique surrounding the production which echoes TARANTINA’s lyrical theme as she explains.“'One Eye’ is about understanding that we may never fully know the whole truth about who we are or where we're going but at the same time, trying to search for that is very human and something which we can all relate to”.
EP closer ‘Surrender’ has its listener surrendering to the intense vibrations of its bass that goes through its listener whole body as TARRANTINA’s otherworldly vocal seduces and slithers through the darkness . The song goes on a coordinated frenzy of layered frequencies making for a really exciting closure to an EP that reveals more of itself on each listen. While the EP is inherently dark and has a lot of experimental touches, TARRANTINA is measured in her sonic exploration and has created a visionary yet accessible ecosystem of sound, without losing any of her authenticity or emotional depth.
Words of Karla Harris