Tag Archives: Triphop

03.21.21
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PleasePrettyLea – Birthday Card

‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned‘ is a phrase that’s been around for donkey’s years. The etymology of the phrase can be traced back to the late 17th century where its commonly attributed to playwright, William Congreve. But the concept of the hysterical woman, crazy in love and taking rejection into her own hands won’t have been a new one for a theatre-goer who would have recognised the character traits of the mourning woman from many of their cultural reference points. 

In the latest single from PleasePrettyLea, we’re treated to a dark and delicious tale of revenge. The ‘Birthday Card’ that has been purchased for a cruel lover lays charred in a heap of ash whilst PrettyLea reflects on the path that has been taken to get to this point. Lyrically taut but graphic and explicit, Pretty Lea refers back to moments of stalking outside hotel rooms and controlling aspects of the couple’s sexual liaisons. It’s delightfully disturbing and weirdly enticing – perfect for a Sunday morning blow-out. 

Sound-wise, PleasePrettyLea appears to draw influence from a number of sources. At its core, Birthday Card is a jazzy, trip-hop upgrade; you can hear bits of Amy Winehouse in the delivery but so too Kate Bush and good, old traditional nursery rhyme. It certainly marks out PleasePrettyLea (from Bewdley, Worcestershire) as one to watch moving forward. There’s promise of other characters and manifestations before the year is out. 

And that’s made easier by the kit that PrettyLea now has. “The highlight (of the year) so far is that I now have my own home set up so I can lay down vocals from the comfort of my home.“, she says in our brief e-mail exchange. “I’m just getting ready to release my new single.”

This makes Sonic Breakfast very happy. Have a great Sunday and, if it’s your birthday today, the card is in the post.

12.17.20
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DIZZY PANDA – Turn Off The Light

I know that I’m not alone when I say that I miss gigs. The life I had just twelve months ago when I hopped onto London buses to travel across the City most evenings now seems like it was a lifetime ago. 

I was delighted to read about the trial being carried out in part by the organisers of Primavera Sound. The forward-thinking Catalonian festival put on a gig in Barcelona at the weekend for more than 500 people. They all had PCR tests and rapid-result checks before entering the Sala Apolo for an evening of entertainment. The ‘results’ of the experiment will be available from January. My fingers are crossed as I’m sure are other fans of gigs, festivals and mass-crowd gatherings.  (Read more here).

Gigs will become odder – of that there is no doubt. One act well placed to benefit from such a change would be LegPuppy. It might have been Halloween when I saw them at the Victoria last year (review here) but the theatrical, dystopian and bizarre world they inhabited now feels like an astute and prescient observation of the immediate future. 

I was delighted to see that DIZZY PANDA, a duo from the Netherlands, cited the influence of LegPuppy in their press release for recent single, Turn Off The Light. I asked Mike from the band about that and he confirmed that LegPuppy ‘really inspires us to develop in a certain direction.’

Even before such a declaration, Turn Off The Light’ already marks DIZZY PANDA as ones to watch. A psychedelic electro-triphop track, it ambles along like a wayward nursery rhyme. Managing to be both ridiculously cute and ever-so-slightly sinister, the chug of the keyboard line consistently chips away as the child-like vocal forms on top. 

The self-produced video, evidently a lockdown labour of love for DIZZY PANDA, provides a sketch for the sketchiness; it all comes together as a glorious whole. 

DIZZy PANDA are an act that I’ll look forward to seeing live one day. “We hope you could help us out as our family and friends don’t like what we do :-)”, say the band. I’m sure that the good readers of Sonic Breakfast will oblige.