Nine albums and 23 years is a lot of music and a long stretch of time; this much is true.  Blonde Readhead, the New York-based trio has been at it for that long and three years since their last release, Barragan, they are now back with a new 4-song E.P., 3 O’Clock.  Although this is only four songs long, those four songs are rich and textured, melodic and powerful and, in a word, quite lovely.

The band, which is made up of Kazu Makino (vocals/rhythm guitar) and twin brothers Simone and Amedeo Pace (drums and lead guitar/vocals, respectively) have put together four strong (and I think) and unified tracks that make this worthy of several consecutive listens.  The track chosen to be the first video, “Golden Light” is a warm, quietly emotional piece with a great deal of the cinematic quality I often write about; listen to Ms. Makino’s breathy vocals – it’s the perfect touch for this song; the title track, “3 O’Clock” is a wonderful mix of some electronic effects, slightly psychedelic loops and immediately stays with you.  “Where Your Mind Wants To Go”, with vocals by (I believe) Amadeo Pace definitely sounds like (when you close your eyes) something you would hear at the end of a movie, as the lead character walks away from the camera and the credits start to roll – it has that kind of dramatic edge and “Give Give” is a slow, keyboard-driven track that makes for the right way to close out these four new songs – thoughtfully and meaningfully.

Four songs is not often satisfying enough, but taken as a whole, this E.P. from Blonde Redhead is.  Which should, in turn, make you anticipate for more (or work your way backwards through their catalog).

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3 O’Clock is available now

https://www.facebook.com/blonderedheadofficial/

About the Author

Rob Ross

Rob Ross has been, for good, bad or indifferent, involved in the music industry for over 30 years - first as guitarist/singer/songwriter with The Punch Line, then as freelance journalist, producer and manager to working for independent and major record labels. He resides in Staten Island, New York with his wife and cats; he works out a lot, reads voraciously, loves Big Star and his orange Gretsch. Doesn't that make him neat?

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