By Lucy Stones
Woman’s Hour has been around since 2011, though it’s taken a while for them to polish and refine their sound into one they’re satisfied with. Now their debut album Conversations is set to be released this month through Secretly Canadian, which has garnered a lot of buzz over the blogosphere.
Combining silky smooth beats with glistening, haunting melodies and staccato guitar lines with emotionally geared lyrics, their songs are a combination of modernist and indie pop but with a soul and mind proving some things are worth waiting for. The four piece hail from Kendal though are based in London. Lead singer Fiona Burgess along with Brother Will, developed the band and eventually started playing with friends Josh Hunnisett and Nicolas Graves completing Woman’s Hour.
The album is full of beautiful minimal numbers, boasting a generous use of bass tones and electronic effects with an unwavering focus on communication and relationships within the lyrics. There is a plethora of dreamy electronic synth pop bands on the market but what makes Woman’s Hour different from the rest is they have the ability to sound genuine, they have their own distinctive sound. Combined with the visual aspects of the album, this art/music crossover is something unique and to be appreciated.
Starting the album off with ‘Unbroken Sequence’ and following with ‘Conversations’, the title track almost sounds like something Fleetwood Mac might release in the 80s with smooth-groove synths and heart-felt lyrics. “Conversations we all have with ourselves, that we won’t share with anyone else” It’s evident the album’s name isn’t for nothing as it is the inspiring theme in most of the songs.
The listener is introduced to ‘Darkest Place’ as it fades in, penetrating intense emotion with its wavy ethereal background of synths and a solid beat. The video for darkest place is visually distressing as an unknown man constantly tries to pull open lead singer Fiona burgess’ eyes as she tries to resist. Fiona has the ability to make you feel heartbroken and melancholy over anything with her unflustered yet non monotone style of singing. With a hint of northern accent in her singing voice, it only adds to the comfortableness of how well she exerts a sense of vulnerability in the music, being completely yourself. During 'Two Sides of You' and 'To the End', helped by the desolate arrangements and combined with Fiona’s soothing and hypnotic voice, really hits you in the lower abdomen. With the help of male backing vocals the songs really do become like conversations.
Though it’s quite minimal in its composition ‘Our Love Has No Rhythm’ demands repeated listens, featuring (like many of the tracks) a glorious throbbing beat throughout. ‘Her Ghost’ again plays on the themes of conversing and communication “take your words and put them in my mouth, help me say the things that never come out, I forgive you” with a simple guitar hook. Interestingly the monochrome video clip is made up entirely of a single shot of a woman translating in sign language to the lyrics and slow motion effects working to an impressive effect. The visuals for the album are produced by fine artist Oliver Chanarin and Adam Broomberg who work heavily with shape, shot in striking monochrome black and white and are visually unusual and fascinating.
The album is comprised of a collection of standout intimate songs dedicated to the conversations that we don’t have, either with ourselves, within society or those around us, and ones that we probably should have. What you are left with is a new band who can stand out on their own in a saturated indie market, who are thinking a lot harder about what they’re conveying than most new bands.
Woman’s Hour will be touring a lot of the UK in the next part of this year and doing a lot of the summer festivals, also with several dates in America and Europe.
