Art-pop
“Liquorice” is a very sweet record as the title and cover would suggest; twee indie sits comfortably next to a theatricality that brings to mind comparisons to Regina Spektor and The Dresden Dolls and makes things quite interesting. Generally there are two strains here; the songs with male vocals, and the songs with female vocals and while the former have a slightly quirky edge (jagged riffs and off kilter piano chords) the later are much more playful, although these two very distinct personalities are very obvious the album still manages to be cohesive and flows very well.
Both vocalists have breathy tones, (there are plenty of oohs and aahs) but without the moments of slightly heavier sometimes jagged guitars and a mix of interesting backing instruments catching you off guard it would be almost unrelentingly cute and saccharine, luckily this never quite happens and the line isn’t crossed because you always feel there is something darker at work behind the scenes.
This may be quite an experimental sounding record but there are some solid tunes here, not quite catchy, get up and dance tunes, but nevertheless they’re quite memorable, especially those with a more theatrical edge (the more straightforwardly indie make less of an impact and can occasionally drag).
Overall a sometimes interesting record of sweet indie tunes with a quirky art
-pop twang, not too taxing or experimental that it will put off those of a more sensitive nature and a few nice melodic moments.