Hailing from London, England, Courtesans came together as one to deliver songs that shake up establishments, break down walls and fearlessly dare to be different amongst a plethora of carbon copy carnage.
Their blend of pop, rock with a smidgen of trip hop saw the release of debut record 1917 last year via a pledgemusic campaign. Courtesans have an update, it’s not a reboot but something new for March 31st it’s the release of Better Safe Than Sober an EP featuring five tracks to swell those taste buds.
Opener, “Mesmerise” a great introduction to those virgin ears of Courtesans music. A smooth track flows like a broken glass-edged Shirley Manson of Garbage. “Mesmerise” is the band’s first single release from Better Safe Than Sober.
Spoken word “Feel the Same” is a surprise, its gentle beat drifts with poetry, it’s beautiful, tense and flows like south London spoken word band, Poeticat. Pure emotion cascades from Sinead La Bella’s vocals.
Vikki Francis creeps in with a beat that would befit a South Korean horror movie, it’s tender but menacing, this is third track “John Doe”. Vikki’s drums have engulfed the flow of the entire EP where this song gives her the licence to roam free and express her drumming style.
“Knowhere” is grunge-esque… am I allowed to still say grunge? Anyway, this has influences of L7, the fuzzy riffs by Saffire Sanchez and Agnes D Jones makes this track an outright front runner. I love this tune, love it. It’s a throwback, its energetic that gets the brain racing, blood pumping and all that while sitting on the arm chair.
Finishing off with “The Tide” Sinead rocks the spoken word with abundance of London attitude, mixed with deep lyrics. The five tracks have their own personality, the same as these four women, who may be taking over the scene if their talent has anything to go by.
You know what, Courtesans are not to be reckoned with, seriously, they are hypnotic. Their sound, when they let loose is powerful. The spoken word stuff was good, but for this reviewer “John Doe” and “Knowhere” is what centred in this mind of mine.
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