The Brag

Indie Album Of The Week: The Jezabels
Dark Storm EP
Independent
****

This band is going places. Champions of the ‘we’ll release our own EPs as we see fit’ model, Sydney’s The Jezabels seem to have morphed from That Slightly Edgy Indie Band into Seriously Amazing Songwriters And Performers while most of us were sleeping.

From the first moment frontwoman Hayley Mary opens her mouth, it’s devastatingly hard to pay attention to anything else. So engrossing is that voice, so expertly arranged is the music behind her and so perfectly crafted is the mix that five songs seems painfully short. Swooping from falsetto to soprano and back again without warning, leading her charges into deep seas of emotion and orchestration, Hayley and The Jezabels have been rightly garnering praise from all the right places – because there’s nothing else in this country quite like them. You could use PJ Harvey as a reference point, but it would only get you so far; there’s so much going on here that it takes many listens to fully appreciate. This EP has honestly been one of the most engrossing things I’ve heard in a long, long time.

‘A Little Piece’ starts off like Foals and ends like the torch ballad you’ve always wanted to have playing when you died. Meanwhile the real stunner is saved for last with ‘She’s So Hard’ – a slow-burner that eschews the disturbing trend that something has to be fast and loud to keep the audience’s attention. If I was sold when ‘Disco Biscuit Love’ first dropped, you can now consider me up for auction. I can’t wait to see where The Jezabels go from here, but I’m almost certain it will leave their competition gasping for air as they try to keep up.

Five kinds of fantastic. Treat yourself to good music, and buy this now.

Jonno Seidler