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Released on February 17, 2015 via The Flenser
Kristina Esfandiari is an incredible human being and this release worked as my introduction to her story. Having released a couple of two-song EPs on The Native Sound, Doubt is the first time this Californian bunch, fronted by Kristina, got together on a proper studio release. It is also where this bunch seems to have got it right.
Doubt is a dark, ruminative album that takes pride in where it comes from. It is a slow, drippy explosion of heavy sounds. The band came into being as a form of therapy for Kristina and this 4-song EP, with its unrestrained, punch-in-the-guts delivery showcases her roiled journey.
On these four songs, Colin and Sky don’t do anything out of the ordinary, but the music and atmosphere they conjure up is that of impeccable beauty. It is in fact the more subtle, spacier approach the band employs that gives the music its ethereal character which sticks out. Thus, a song like ‘King of Swords’, even with its bare-minimum orchestration, ends up being the most enthralling tune of the lot. I don’t mean to exaggerate but some of the music here is downright sexual. The song-writing in its very essence oozes of charisma and has a mysterious, gossamer flair to it, a lot of which I think comes from the cinematic build-up the songs have. The music here is ever-expanding, moving slowly to envelope the listener in its heaviness.
Throughout, Kristina’s soulful alto vocals work wonderfully with the floaty, cymbal-washed music. Although a lot of it comes across as instinctual – almost a somatic reaction to the music, the vocal-lines that she constructs are melodic, exudes an unmistakable middle-eastern charm and are soaked in pain and hurt. Kristina’s voice is a lot of things but what makes it poignant is probably its crude humanness. It does things to you.
King Woman play a variety of doom that’s downcast, powerful and yet somehow instantly likeable and liberated – all of which, if you take a quick look, is communicated cleverly by the album cover. Recorded at Earth Tone and mixed by Kristina herself, Doubt boasts a heavyset production. The immense guitar sound, the warm bass tone and the lush soundscape work together beautifully to create a sound that isn’t out-and-out doom or shoe-gaze but something in between – something their own.
