Well this didn’t take long. Just a week after falling in love with Australian RY X’s stunning single “Berlin”, we’re graced with a brand new one that ups the stakes even more. Could RY X’s debut EP Berlin become one of the best of the year? Time to listen to “Vampires” and get giddy-as-fuhk:
While “Berlin” played cleanly and directly, with angelic vocal harmonies reminiscent of Justin Vernon’s time in the woods, “Vampires” is a bit… stranger. It’s an obvious homage to the mid-2000s freak-folk, all henna facial tattoos, woodsy handclaps and drumsticks, but with a tendency towards the perfectly buttoned up pop of Grizzly Bear and St. Vincent. “Vampires” overflows with wobbly vocal verses and eerie harmonies, and it breaks between dark/light and soft/loud poles like all capital-G Good Songs should. It’s all kinds of pleasant but leaves me wanting. Understandably, it’s hard to pull off a second act to a song as magical as “Berlin”, no matter how hard you try, when you’re only releasing one song at a time.
So maybe new label Dumont Dumont could just make the whole thing EP streamable so we can get a full sense of RY X? Pretty please?
Berlin is available now via Rough Trade »
