'Clementine' is the debut EP release from Brooklyn based electro duo Bottler (Pat Butler and Phil Shore). The four track EP (due to be released on 8th May) was produced and mixed in collaboration with Cesar Urbina (who is also known as Cubenx) and offers a suitably juicy flavour of the duo’s electro-pop sound which at times offers strong comparisons to The Avalanches - in particular their sublime, seminal debut album 'Since I Left You'.
The first track on the EP – and first single release from the duo – Nobody Likes Me, opens with a sustained tone over which a classical inspired piano tune (composed by Shore) is overlaid. This acts as a musical prologue to the main part of the song which is heralded by synthesised notes and a rhythmic pulse before the piano tune remerges, distorted within the mix. Handclaps heralds the arrival of the vocal part of the song chanting out what the duo says is an ‘old campfire song’: “Nobody like me, everybody hates me.” The combination of the sampled, looped vocals and synthesised beats makes the song come across as an emo-version of French electro duo Justice’s 2007 hit song “D.A.N.C.E.” with the downbeat meaning of the chanted refrain contrasting with the upbeat synthesised rhythms.
The second track, When I Don’t Think Of You, is a remix of an early track by Bottler which features soulful vocals backed by a pounding electro beat. An '80's style drum machine arrives halfway through the song to provide percussion to add to the mix of the vocals, synthesiser bed, and the acoustic guitar lines which filter through during the breaks between verses. A funky and soulful number, it manages to move both your feet and your heart.
The third song on the EP is also the longest. Day Sleeper Peace Keeper clocks in at seven minutes long and is reminiscent of some of the work of Northern Irish electronic musician David Holmes – his epic remix of the Manic Street Preachers song If You Tolerate This Then Your Children Will Be Next sprang to mind, featuring long, ambient synthesiser drones interspersed by percussion and vocalisations. As the song progresses, it begins to find its out identity with electro rhytmns layering on top of the synthesier soundscapes and in turn being layered by vocalisations and synthesised and real percussion. The song recalls long, languid summer days.
The closing track of the EP, Weekend, sounds like a club classic ready to drop. With strong vocals, a catchy chorus and big beats pounding behind the electro soundscapes, the song is almost like an aural equivalent to a puzzle box – as soon as you think you’ve got a handle on it, a new and surprising element reveals itself and entices you further on. This song is by far the most conventionally structured of the four on this EP but the production, soundscapes, and vocal performance are first class all across the board. It’s begging to be a hit song over the summer.
'Clementine' is a hugely impressive release from Bottler who obviously have a lot of talent with their skills in composition, performance, and sampling. The four songs across the EP manage to showcase different aspects of the duo’s repertoire (not once was there a feeling of the songs sound alike to one another) and When I Don’t Think Of You and especially Weekend, prove that the duo can crank out electro-pop hits which are strong enough to go up against already established acts. A full-length album would certainly prove to be an interesting listen if Bottler are able to show off a similarly varied selection of songs across a longer format.
Reviewer - Andrew Marsden
on - 2/5/20
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