Vinegar
Vain Mina Records
vainmina.bandcamp.com
The snail’s pace of these songs and their hushed, rambling vocals are more than a little reminiscent of the work of Christine Fellows. Like Fellows, Eliza Niemi — who is also the singer and bassist for Montreal’s Mauno — tries to fit too many words into a single line, and the effect is predictably endearing. Plucked cello and keyboard are the primary instruments on this debut EP. Thus, it’s an intimate affair. Niemi, who fixates primarily on absence and loneliness, suggests that she may some day “start writing happier songs.” But this suite is perhaps more optimistic than she realizes.
