The opposite of Poor, Poor.
George Pringle is one of the rising stars of the home recording scene and her use of the home studio program Garageband has allowed her to create her musical masterpieces and brought her to peoples attention from an early stage in her career. George first came to this writers attention last Novembers when an article about her and her home studio use was featured in the Guardian and it is reassuring to know she has traversed from there and finally released her debut EP, which is a collection of previously released free downloads and one new exclusive track in the guise of ‘Poor EP, Poor EP Without A Name.’
The EP kicks off with the new track ‘SW10’ and if you are not aware of what to expect from George Pringle then it can be a shock as the glitchy electronic backing lies underneath her spoken word rambling which causes an unsettling feeling at first.
Spoken word tracks in music are not a rare occurrence with this writers favourite act The Velvet Underground having released a few gems of the genre, most notably ‘The Gift’, so the track is not in bad company but if you were expecting a song from a new singer-songwriter, you are going to be in for a shock.
‘Carte Postale’ is excellent, it carries the same spoken word monologue as the opening track but it’s a far more rounded song and it has a little joy to its step. The backing vocals prove that Pringle can sing and the backing track crackles with a vibrancy of excitement as Pringle lays her life bare with the story of her life without a partner and family and the way she changes throughout the course of a year. It’s a really intriguing song and the tempo builds throughout that manages to grab the listener and drags it along with it as it crescendos to the end.
‘Yes, I’m Alone Buster, At Last’ follows the same pattern but there is an urgency on this track that wasn’t evident on the earlier numbers and there are a few occasions early on in the song where the girl threatens to burst into melody and verse but pulls back at the last moment and returns to her spoken delivery. This is rectified later on though when “I haven’t a heart to break” ushers in a melodic interpass and finally provides the proof that Pringle can hold a tune as well as her laptop.
It’s a really interesting EP that is no way destined for mass appeal but ironically, is far more real than any of the popsters playing at being singer-songwriters that pervades our society in this day and age.