EP Review: KNIFE BRIDE - 'don't dream too much'
In their deathly sweet and cynical EP 'don't dream too much', Knife Bride web their way around the wild and the wondrous, like a hormonal tribe of nihilistic teens.
The first song 'sacrifice/surrender', which acts as a plunging introduction to the rocking EP, crashes curiously into a smattering of drums, Buckley's vocals piercing through in an Evanescence-esque roar of illusive sanity. Layers of ghostly whispers override the chorus, before Buckley screams the gruesomely haunting line "I'm gonna be sick!" You'd assume that the genre of the band itself would deceptively compartmentalise Knife Bride to a specific crowd of gothic soul-searchers, but their songs are worth far more than that. They are dark and witty and appealing beyond their demographic.
The following track 'smother (make me suffer)' sustains the band's modern-gothic energy, simultaneously weaving in threads of electronic and robotic symphony. It sounds almost filmic or televisual, with flurries of meltdowns and melodrama adding to its cinematic sheen. While some narrow-minded music moaners might view their songs as depressingly downbeat or gloomy, like the prominent protests fired at Morrissey, it is clear that there is a slither of satire that distinctly pervades this EP.
The glamorous, clamorous track ‘permanent smile’ concludes the EP with a swatch of death-black humour, its dilating vocals both lucid and indulgent. The truly ear-grabbing star of this song is Millsopp's sulphurous thunder-clap drum beats that splash between the revolving choruses.
The newly-released music video for the track features a pixie-faced woman with a bloody, Merlot-red grin, like a gore-infested American Horror Story episode. It flashes between staged concert footage and this fearsome, blood-soaked figure, artistically alluding to the narrative of the blackly comedic, bittersweet song.
Buckley has openly shared her lust for the reward of revenge, describing 'permanent smile' as a "romanticised revenge narrative." She has delved into the breadth of the band’s inspiration, stating "I’ve always been fascinated with films like 'I Spit On Your Grave', 'Hard Candy', and 'Promising Young Woman', and that’s definitely where the concept for the song came from. Retribution is always sweet… or so says cinema.”
Knife Bride's recently released EP 'don't dream too much' excels extraordinarily in its undiluted weirdness and whimsicality. It offers a subtle stab at unrecognised, out-of-the-spotlight women in a fantastical flourish of female empowerment. After storming through a catalogue of high-profile festivals, Knife Bride has gained acclaim from wide audiences, and aims to mass more devout followers on their upcoming live dates in September.
Words by Charlie Jolley
