EP Review: I Am Always Listening

I Am Always Listening is a new 6 track offering from the most mischievous troupe in New Zealand music, which comes just a year after their last EP The Lizard. This isn’t the first time we have been treated to back to back yearly releases, proving once the band gets the creative juices flowing it sends them on a roll. Carnivorous Plant Society are here to take you on an atmospheric journey through different worlds and biomes with I Am Always Listening.

Evil King opens the EP to a grand western epic that could easily be the theme song for any morally grey cowboy on the cinematic screen. Band leader Finn Scholes takes a different route on the vibraphone than the ferocity of Zappa alumni Ruth Underwood. He instead dances around the keys with delicate purpose and the gallop of a horse into a scarlet sky. If not a western, the Evil King itself could be referring to Super Mario’s greatest and forever foe, King Bowser, as the song storms his castle to rescue the mushroom princess. Huge N64 vibes going on here.

Busy Garden blends traditional Japanese Koto music with middle eastern drums and turns the funk all the way up. The band has always been selective with their vocals, using them as their very own instrument to highlight them within the song versus being the star. The vocals in the chorus uplift a very grounded composition adding a wave of airiness to this garden landscape that they’ve created. 

Thinking About The Planets is an ode to the moon lander himself Mort Garson. It really is a journey through the stars to discover a new frontier. The band paints a beautiful scene of hopefulness and discovery which is just what this group has always been about. Storytelling through music. Each song, a new scene and new scope.

The band has always had a real knack for naming their songs. They truly paint the picture of what you are listening to. For many, song names can be an afterthought to the music itself, but much like Van Gogh’s Starry Night, there is a direct correlation between the band’s song titles and the art attached to it. Where one can make splatters on a canvas and call it the ocean ‘The Society’s’ ocean is living and breathing, in incredible vivid technicolour. 

Carnivorous Plant Society’s new EP is akin to one of those snake in a jar toys. Absolutely crammed to the brim with as much genre, storytelling and culture as possible and just waiting for someone to open up the jar and shoot out an infectiously good time and plenty of surprise. Another superb effort here with an immense amount of replay value.

Albums to complement Carnivorous Plant Society – I Am Always Listening:

Khruangbin – Mordechai – 2020

Surprise Chef – Education & Recreation – 2022

Super Mario 64 – Soundtrack – 1996