Single Review: Sailing the Seas of Grease

Empress have just released their debut single Sailing the Seas of Grease, with an incredibly artistic music video that accompanies the track. Empress are a heavy two-piece band, originally from Auckland and Hamilton. The band came to life after their former music project, Cheshire Grimm, disbanded. Empress is a very impressionable, high-energy band, with a raw and dynamic sound. They’re eerie yet buoyant, and something awesomely different to listen to.

The lead singer, Lora Thompson, has a delicate and high pitched voice. Her vocals throw; a technique used to allow her voice to create a distant effect. In this track, it adds marvellously to the gloom. Lora also plays the lead electric guitar in this track, which has a robust and distorted sound. You can definitely hear the grunge, sludge, metal or post-punk influence but it’s hard to say whether they really are ‘influenced’ as this is not a familiar beat, melody or groove. I really like that about this band’s sound; you really can’t call it one thing, or another. The drums by Craig Gilliver are clean, yet punky with a bold snare, they arrange really well with Lora’s voice. Both pair up to form a vigorous fusion of heavy sound, with expressive character. The lyrics discuss a dark, seemingly emotional void where a friendship is suffering, and silence is all that remains.

Let us not forget, music’s power to express every spectrum of emotion. Too much of one or another type, I believe, doesn’t bring enough balance to the mind. Every one of us is in need of release; be it creative, musical, or physical, or all three at once. I find this track has a stunning amalgamation of all three mental releases. It has a vintage touch, with a peculiar ingenuity that really brings this track out of the shadows. It’s composed by Empress, mixed by Kane Power and mastered by Lora Thompson. This track is definitely one to add to the list; for those demiurgic, imaginative, and more liberating moods.