Yorkshire’s RealPolitik impressed with last year’s ‘2repelGhosts’; a debut full of confrontational sounds, offset by the haunting vocals of Cleo Harratt. The nature of the music was that it was compelling albeit a little too austere to love but ‘And The Night Was All In Pieces’ could possibly be the way to address that perceived shortfall.
‘Nocturne’ is the first sign that the group are now fully focussed on spare arrangements and letting their frontwoman take centre stage. The effect is now no longer redolent of Portishead but more of Dead Can Dance. ‘These Lullabies’ contains some lovely string passages whilst the stark piano-led ‘Sonata’ comes dangerously close to a verse-chorus arrangement. However, the real moment of class appears courtesy of ‘Something Forgotten’ where Harratt gives a restrained yet heartfelt performance above a backing of beats, percussion and orchestral swell.
RealPolitik deserve a lot of credit here for making their songs far more approachable, yet without compromising too much on the experimental touches. They are definitely on to something here and 4AD Records would have loved this twenty five years ago.
Web Sites:
RealPolitik MySpace
Further Listening:
Dead Can Dance, This Mortal Coil
Leonard's Lair Music Reviews 
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