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Life & Arts

Esthero EP incites 'Revolution' against pop music norms

Genre mixing, radical originality among album's many strengths

By Zach Lee
The Daily Cougar

For every trendy clique of music fans, there's a disaffected purist just as annoying. 

Sure, music isn't where it was ten years ago, and it never will be again, but whining about it makes those purists sound just like the snot-nosed emo bands they claim to be better than. With a title like We R in Need of a Musical Revolution!, Esthero's newest EP seems at first glance to be just another brick in the wall. 

It's not though.

With only six tracks (five songs and a bonus track), the album is a far cry from a musical revolution, but it is a little more original than Simple Plan or Lloyd Banks. The title track is by far the album's weakest song and is more like a call to arms than an actual attack on the status quo. 

In the song's weak introduction, Esthero declares her boredom with radio and MTV, saying, "They only play the same thing. No matter where I go, I see Ashanti in a video. I want something more." The song is different, but not in a good way.

Throughout the EP, Esthero lets her voice float freely from the poppy crooning of today's best r&b singers to an airy lightness comparable to Portishead. 

The Beth Gibbons influence can be heard in "Amber and Tiger's Eye," the album's bonus track. The song gently washes up against the ears of listeners for more than seven minutes to bring a peaceful end to the album.

Cee-Lo Green offers his own vocal talents on "Gone" and adds a little hip-hop flavor to the song. 

The contrast of the two voices makes the song stand out, and it's hard to resist singing along with Esthero by the end of "Everyday is a Holiday (With You)"

The music can stand on its own, but another great addition to the whole package is the fact that Esthero refers to her contemporaries as pirates several times in the liner notes.

Esthero

We R in Need of a Musical Revolution!

Reprise Records

Verdict: Arby's was right; different is good.
 

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