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Artist
Silent G
12+ albums
chineseindietrip-hopsinger-songwriterfreak-folk
about
Wuhan-by-way-of-Beijing outfit Silent G come perilously close to irritating ‘pretty pretty princess’ mannerisms on Jack In A Box; the music flirts with head-wagging sugariness and singer Danmu has her winsomer-than-thou moments. Luckily, though, the poppy ebullience is simply a way of grabbing the listener’s attention that, once attracted, rarely wanders from what is actually a delightfully dense and complicated album. This is a largely genre-free album – a refreshing change when most every other Chinese band can be instantly catagorised by musical niche. The perfect Silent G song (of which there are many on this disc) starts with an acoustic guitar line, to which is added elements of Chinese folk (album highlight ‘Anoia’, which is anything but), understated electronica, the occasional touch of jazz, a boatload of strings and Danmu’s magnificent, ethereal voice, which veers between Edie Brickell’s naffness, Bjork’s arty pretention (‘Cold Fire’) and Alison Goldfrapp’s otherworldliness (‘Love Mime’). However, where Bjork and Goldfrapp can sometimes sound emotionally unapproachable, Silent G succeed in creating a warm, inclusive music; the one exception being ‘Nymphet’ - the band manage to somehow create a completely passionless sex song. Still, aside from such little stumbles, Jack In The Box is a perfectly charming after hours record. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
