The Violet Hour by Monster Cat (Singapore)

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Track Listing:
1. Take Me To Love
2. Creature
3. Mother
4. Pockets (All That I Have)
5. Salem
6. Spiders
7. Circling
8. 4am
9. Tower
10. Eat You Up
11. Cradle
12. Knife Through Water
13. Behind

Monster Cat’s ‘The Violet Hour’ is a textured amalgamation of folk rock, a menacing exuberance of layers and sounds that evoke a very complex listening experience. With melodies, harmonies and effects similar to ‘The Dresden Dolls’, the band seem to have a thespian yet minimally gothic flair in songs like ‘Take Me To Love’, ‘Mother’, and ‘Knife Through Water’. Thanks to the fact that their tunes sound like they’ve been put through a grinder after they’re finished with producing the piece, we end up with creative songs and dark lyrics. The songs are meticulously crafted in every aspect and all explore extremely emotive themes.
My personal favourites include ‘Eat You Up’ (Track 10), ‘Pockets (All That I Have) (Track 4), Spiders (Track 6), and Circling (Track 7). ‘Eat You Up’ is a very slow, piano-driven piece that has liberal doses of a clean and resonant guitar. The vocals are light and tortured cries, and there are very mysterious sounding bells and after-effects that give the song a very devastating atmosphere. ‘Pockets (All That I Have)’, on the other hand, is quite the opposite. An airy breathlessness oozes from the female vocals backed up by post-rock style instrumental. The whole piece is quiet and delicate, dominated by a silvery guitar. ‘Spiders’ diverges into a more playful experimentation, there the singer utilizes falsetto, and there are a lot of rock guitar fills. Although still creeping around the fog, we get the sense that Spiders is a more controlled yet angsty tune. ‘Circling’ is a heartfelt acoustic song with layering acoustic and electric guitar, and a minimal instrumentation to allow listeners to focus on the beautiful detail and lyrical message.

– Chloe Cheng

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