Black Moth Super Rainbow: Eating Us

With a name like Black Moth Super Rainbow, what type of music could you honestly expect to witness upon pressing the play button?

Unless you had already heard, or known, of the band prior to their newest and fourth release Eating Us, then we're sure anyone approaching this odd, ambient, psychedelic folk-pop collective would have been a little disconcerted to say the least. Funnily enough, as weird as they may be, there's nothing to be perplexed about here.

It's electronica at it's heart but coated in instrumentation, striking a balance between digital and analogue soundwaves. Introductory track Born On A Day, A Day The Sun Didn't Rise has an electric pulse perennially running through it and is built upon with drums and a warped bass. The vocals are reminiscent of a robotic Silversun Pickups and yet the melody conjures early Royksopp / Zero 7-like imagery.

The Sticky bounds along on electro vocals and simple percussion. It's hyper and jovial, never taking itself too seriously but still impressing with musicianship and depth. It may be but a short composition, yet it sounds ten times grander than reality actually dictates.

The music is textured and patterned, padding out its emptiness with twisted bleeps, echoes and knob-twiddling aplenty. While not completely original, it's definitely accomplished: possessing the ability to evoke certain atmospheres and emotions song after song. Smile The Day After Today perpetuates the previous sentiment flawlessly with a deep and gorgeous tone, floating lazily on an almost 4Hero like aura.

Vocally, the record grates after a while, a fault mainly due to the band's intent on employing only one type of vocal style: the aforementioned robotic yet breezy (and heavily modified) voice that reminds us a little too much of the final song from the video-game Portals (Obscure reference alert, click ). 

Iron Lemonade is like an organic, pounding, lo-fi anthem that may be too simple for its own good but still stands as a definite highlight. The vocals suit the rhythmic percussion perfectly, darting in and out of each other like two courting butterflies. 

Tooth Decay offers the other end of the spectrum and follows an easier melody to digest. It's also less fun in a manner of ways and shows that although the band can diversify, it seems that there are certain areas which don't suit their style as much as they think. It's too care-free and mainstream, swapping their alternative grace for forgettable normality.

With Eating Us, Black Moth Super Rainbow have crafted an enjoyably deep album that comes with a host of unabashed faults and problems. The choice to use heavily modified vocoder relentlessly lends the album the Marmite predicament (love it / hate it) for all listeners. Some of the material holds a lot more slack or filler than we would've liked but once you've decided to dive a little deeper into the intricate waters of the record, we're sure you'll find something to fall in love with.