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Little Bark - USB Album Review

02 Sep 2014 // A review by Ria Loveder

Sophie Burbery, also known as Little Bark first stepped into the spotlight with her debut Hope is Rubbery in 2011. She performs with a 4 piece band, featuring 2 synthesists, a drummer (using an electronic kit), a bassist and vocals. Now she brings her album titled USB into the music scene.

This album is beautifully constructed with exceptional sound engineering. The album is an amalgamation of electronic beats, synthesizers, atmospheric ambience and catchy lyrics. The album captures the sound of 80-esuqe electro-pop, making it very enjoyable to listen to, with it being a sound not generally created in the current music industry. She directs, writes and produces everything herself and I think it is wonderful how engaged she is with the advancement of her music and her career.

This album is full of energy with each song bringing another emotion, another image to the forefront, with the title of the album and tracks focusing on technological aspects, which I found very intriguing and clever, as Little Bark's album is all about using technology to her advantage.

I thought I would mention a few of my favourites. The first one is titled YouTube Me and is an instrumental, it is highly atmospheric and uses electronic beats to heighten it, which made for interesting listening.

Secondly, Arpreggiator, which I believe to be a quite haunting tune, with the rise and falls of sounds in the intro. It reminded me very much of Madonna when she was at her best in the 1980s. The addition of the male voice was also interesting to hear.

Transform the Beat I found to be a very emotional piece, it is another instrumental with the sounds of occasional notes sung. It is a beautifully constructed song and I think my favourite in the album. On a side note, if they could, I strongly believe the songs titled Poly and Walk Away should be placed in a 80s movie… Dirty Dancing anyone?

This album is not something I would generally listen to, but I am glad I did get the opportunity. It is a well thought and put together album, with some catchy tunes that once I heard a few times, I was humming along to as I made my tea!

 

About Little Bark

Little Bark! An urban urchin, orphaned and abandoned in the city, left alone to grow and prosper in the dirty beating heart of the hard city.

Little Bark! Raised and nurtured on the synthetic swing of Main St. with the nerve and spirit of a survivor. Crawling undaunted from the alley into the fluorescent strip-light of a post-modern new retro bar. Scratched a living bussing tables and doing theme-night country dancing. Forced to wear stilettos and a cowboy hat she rubbed shoulders with the unthinking unfeeling inelegant elite.

Late one tragic evening, amidst an earthquake agitation, a disco-ball falls and shards leave scars and tears. She runs in maim and ruin taking the first train from the city and flew away out into the black unseeing night where for ten years nurtured by brown racoons, deep within the tranquil woods and headlands and on the heartland, she learns birdsong beats and monkey rhythm, chirping cricket cadences and whirring beetle meter.

Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Little Bark

Releases

USB
Year: 2014
Type: Album
Hope Is Rubbery
Year: 2010
Type: Album
I Need A Shot
Year: 2009
Type: Album

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