It is refreshing to encounter music that does not easily fit into one of today's fashionable genres. From Manchester comes Red Painted Red and they are certainly a little different.
Simplistic lyrics and verse, chorus, verse song construction don't really figure in Red Painted Red's plan. You can hear elements of Peter Gabriel's more offbeat musical moments in there, at other times you are reminded of a John Carpenter soundtrack and - just so you don't get bored - some odd samples get thrown in too. Yvonne Neve's voice varies between Kate Bush style theatrics ("Let's Go") to rather appealing, husky spoken interludes ("My Friend"). I especially liked the title track "Preach" which quite frankly went miles over the top in performance terms - I didn't know that method acting could be transferred into the recording studio! Perhaps the best thing about these songs is that you are never sure where they are going. Your attention certainly will not wander.
Arty and pretentious? Maybe. However, I suspect that there is a ready market for music like this out there and Red Painted Red are also to be congratulated on remembering that packaging is actually important. You would actually want to have a physical copy of this EP. Alright, I admit it - I enjoyed these 4 songs a lot more than I thought I would.