RIYL: Regina Spektor, Mary Timony, Amanda Palmer, Rachel Ries
On her recently released debut ‘Drone’, Erel Pilo offers a 6-track snapshot of modern life in Brooklyn that stylistically runs the gamut between folk, acoustic and indie pop. Her website bio is about as tongue-in-cheek as you can get and that healthy sense of humor spills over into the album.
The title track ‘Drone’ is a clever piece of pop that finds Pilo offering up a laundry list of her daily activities and coming to a dire realization. The song uses a piano riff, minimalist beats and techy electro-blips for a backdrop as Pilo sings ‘I’m writing an email/ I’m checking my Facebook/ I’m petting my cat’ and concludes in the chorus ‘I’m a drone!’ The track works surprisingly well by avoiding excessive pathos and opting for a more lighthearted demeanor.
The opener ‘All the People (Chloe’s Theme)’ is probably more cutesy than necessary, with ukelele, kiddie piano runs, hand-claps and tambourine. Still, it’s a fairly catchy ditty that gives Pilo the opportunity to proclaim to an ex ‘If you’d not told me all those ugly things you did/ We’d still have a future I bet.’
Next in line is ‘Just a Girl’, which tells the tale of a more fruitful relationship and creates a nicely pensive mood with strummed guitar and wistful organ flourishes. ‘Love Song’ mines a similar vein but the melody lacks definition and with stock lyrics the track somehow manages to feel long at only 3:35.
Things get much more interesting on ‘Let’s Go’, a quirky vent about being stuck in traffic that feels raw and compelling and sounds an awful lot like a Mary Timony circa ‘Mountains’. It’s a mostly spoken-word-style track with a dour brooding energy, crashing cymbals, synths and xylophone. ‘Im not moving and I don’t like it very much’, Pilo chants, ‘They say I should get a new attitude/ I say they should find a way to put me in the mood.’ The track builds to a satisfyingly discordant crescendo, and is quickly followed by “Lone Wolf”, another moody piece that shows Pilo isn’t afraid to delve into darker depths. All in all, “Drone” is a satisfying and varied debut that leaves the listener eager to hear more of the sounds swirling through Erel Pilo’s mind.
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For More Information Visit:
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http://www.erelpilo.com
http://erelpilo.bandcamp.com
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/erelpilo
http://www.facebook.com/erelmusic
