Review: Cathedrals - Cathedrals EP
By Tony Cardwell, Contributor
[Neon Gold; 2014]
Rating: 6.5/10
Key Tracks: “Harlem,” “OOO AAA,” “Want My Love”
As hip-hop and rap beats continue to rule the popular music scene, more and more groups are taking those hip-hop rhythms and transferring them to other genres. San Francisco’s Cathedrals epitomize that behavior. On their first release, the aptly titled Cathedrals EP, the duo releases a set of six songs, all of which include eloquent singing with extremely fluid but somewhat annoying and over-produced beats.
The album starts with “Harlem,” a song that demonstrates the range of vocalist Brodie Jenkins, hitting every note effortlessly. Johnny Hwin, the producer and instrumentalist of Cathedrals, layers vocal samples during the chorus, and provides a strong guitar solo on the track’s back end. This style of guitar use only appears once throughout the album, which is a shame considering how well it fits with the rest of the song. The beat itself is a bit repetitive, but “Harlem” is a very good jumping off point when starting the EP.
Following its very promising start, the EP begins to takes a big dive in producing compelling music. All the beats on the album are repetitive in nature and for a group that places a massive amount of emphasis on electronic instrumentation, this feels almost like a cardinal sin. For example, the tracks “In The Dark” and “Unbound” really show off Jenkins beautiful voice, but the backbeat becomes annoying after one minute. And it’s not that these beats are poorly made--sonically there is no choppiness or under mastered pieces of music. The instrumentation really isn’t very compelling.
With that being said, the track “OOO AAA” switches up the music accompaniment just enough to make everything sound fresh and as always Jenkins provides a beautiful vocal arrangement. The track’s biggest flaw is the relentless auto-tuned chant of “Ooo aaa.” The annoying, robotic sound clip becomes grating when trying to listen to Jenkins perform.
The closing tracks, a plugged and unplugged version of the same song, again show off Jenkins’ vocal performance. If there is anything to take away from this review, it’s that Jenkins can sing, really sing. “Want My Love” is a perfect sampling of her voice, something that carries pain and longing as she belts out her feelings to a man. Both versions are simply beautiful. The non-acoustic version of the track feels like it could be played as the slow song during senior prom, while the acoustic version seems like it’d be played during the first kiss during a romantic movie.
Holistically, the entire EP is a bit off balance, with some uplifting songs and others that are depressing. Jenkins has an extreme talent, while Hwin’s production needs some work. With a six track set list (five if you throw out the acoustic repeat), the out-of-whack nature is more prevalent. Hwin has an ear for music; it’s just not finely tuned yet. The album presents some very compelling sets of music for anyone interested in R&B that's just a tad watered-down. The band does cater to a niche, and while Cathedrals EP doesn’t provide a defining moment in sappy electronic singing, it does provide a decent record for fans of that brand of music.
