The words appear in my head. Bleak. Wistful. Redemption. Heartbreak. Gothic. Words more often applied to cinema than music perhaps but words that can safely be used to describe Munroe’s self-titled EP.
It will no doubt be no surprise to many that Munroe is, in the real life that is television, an actress and, like many an actress before her, she easily turns her hand and voice to the less demanding, and notably less financially rewarding, world of music. To her credit, she makes the transition to songstress seems considered rather than a mere whim and all the six songs of this mini album turn out to be both cohesive and convincingly atmospheric. Now I hear you say that there’s many a practitioner of gothic intensity in the land of Canada these days – Kandle Osborne being my personal favourite prime example – so could Munroe just be jumping on the stylistic bandwagon?
I don’t think so for she is far too convincing to be accused by the righteous of holding on to someone else’s tailcoats. For example, she has no problem evoking the ghosts of the past in “Bloodlet” or, indeed, gothic obsession in “Summer” and, even in the apparent whimsy of “Bonnie”, there is always (always, always) some very real blood on her lyrical knife.
Munroe. Actress turned emoter amongst the storm clouds of song. Let us all be thankful for that career change.