EP Review: Downpour

Nelson creator Sylvee’s sophomore EP Downpour is a shimmering study of the artist behind each hook. A thematic exploration of the phrase “sink or swim”, it’s a dark pop extravaganza amongst the country’s absolute best.

The sharp, metallic opener Time For The Girls positively shudders under the weight of its clicking percussion, eerie melodies and fierce guitars. Introducing listeners to the EP’s sound, every single element is pop perfection, layered, reverbed and mixed to the high heavens. Lyrically, it’s a menacing number warning men who abuse their power of the modern feminist revolution. Each line is snappy, sinister and quick to the point. 

It’s followed by the dreamy ballads Slow and Honey. Both tracks are again brilliantly polished. They emphasise Sylvee’s voice well, which is lower yet equally lighter than many others in the genre and thus makes her immediately recognisable. Older single Retrograde World then picks up the pace, a song written at APRA’s Songhubs in 2020 and offering up an exciting guest verse from Hawkes’ Bay rapper Lucid Heist.

The heavy distortion kicking off Don’t Say A Word is perhaps the EP’s most thrilling moment. This song, like Time For The Girls, proves Sylvee shines the brightest when her production blends aggression and intensity with a deceptively sweet vocal. “You say enough when you don’t say a word”, she snarls, latching onto a position of power her performance absolutely makes her deserving of.

Finally, closer I’m Fine drenches itself in vocoder to give some edge to the collection’s most vulnerable song. A complex track simultaneously about beginnings and endings, it’s an effectively dramatic finale. 

Downpour is an impressively polished release from a Kiwi artist who absolutely demands her presence on your radar. There’s little to criticise about this beautiful EP, other than the fact it ends, and isn’t it such an effort to reach over and press replay?