EP Review: Spector – Reloaded
Spector – Reloaded
Words: Sammy Sadler
I’m a big fan of Spector and everyone knows it. Even they know it. Eight years ago I coined myself as ‘Sammy Sadz – Queen of Spector’ and I’m not even a little bit ashamed. So naturally you can imagine my inner fangirl reaction when they dropped a new EP out of the blue.
There’s been a noticeable change in Spector since the first album ‘Enjoy It While It Lasts’ both in terms of musical style and lineup. It broke my heart when Chris Burman left and now Tom Shickle has departed, it’s really tugging on the heartstrings. But as we all know, they’ll ‘never fade away’….
Like that one? There’s plenty more when that came from.
Produced by the band themselves, ‘Reloaded’ is a four-track masterpiece that’s so far away from what Spector have done before yet it works so perfectly.
Opening on ‘Love Will Do Your Head Right In’, Fred Macpherson’s unique croon echoes over an eerie electronic-charged soundscape glittered with dramatic drum patterns and a funky bass line. The chorus soon transforms into a dreamy array of notes as Macpherson claims that “love will do your fucking head in.”
Next up is ‘Tenner’ which the guys have actually been playing for a while. This one is that twinge of the old Spector where it’s not quite a pop song and it’s not quite indie either but it’s oozing with 80s influences.
‘Zone Two’ is gorgeous and actually my favourite on the EP. There’s slight undertones of ‘Kyoto Garden’ in this one, which is another one of my favourites, as the delicate keys twinkle and I swear that a xylophone I hear? Absolutely lush.
Finishing the EP is Spector’s latest single ‘Even When You Pass My Way’ which they dropped last week on Huw Stephens. This is almost like a throwback to something you’d expect on ‘Moth Boys’ but again it’s so different that it’s really difficult to put any kind of genre on it.
‘Reloaded’ is the mixtape that you never even knew you needed. You aren’t going to find anything similar to ‘Celestine’ or ‘Chevy Thunder’ on here but it doesn’t need it, they’ve already done that. It’s a solid 10/10 from me.
Listen to Reloaded below:
