Looking back, 2010 was a pretty damn good year for music, but someone will always be there to say that about any year. My praise for last year likely stems from the general dissatisfaction with 2009 where I had no album surprise, astound and inspire me in ways I never expected like I did the year before. Or maybe I just didn’t look for or stumble across the right music. I could just be being narrow minded and want to evaluate a year’s worth of music by music released that year instead of including albums from the past I listened to for the first time. Music’s a dynamic thing that doesn’t just centre around songs and such performed at one moment in time. Something done one year – an album released, a great gig performed – can come back at any time in the future and mean something else: someone’s 1969 can be another’s 2009.
Pointless rambling aside though, as I said to begin with, 2010 was a good year for music. And I like to think that Morgan Kibby – creator and lone member of White Sea – thought so too in the way her debut EP, This Frontier seems to make references and tributes to the sound of the year past. Opening track “Mountaineer” takes thunderous 80’s drums from what sounds like the same catalogue as Active Child (of whom Kibby has admitted she is a fan of) as she sings “It’s a teen dream” repeatedly as her vocals layer until a near enough cinematic effect if produced. Even the “teen dream” part could be a reference to Beach House’s album from last year (or Katy Perry’s too I suppose). With its sexual panting and pretty catchy chorus, “Ladykiller” is essentially a Lady Gaga track without the big name performing it (and again, perhaps a reference to Cee Lo Green’s album The Lady Killer). And then there’s “Overdrawn” which takes what is essentially a Goldfrapp synth riff and turns it into a boppy pop-number (a jibe perhaps at Goldfrapp’s somewhat dissatisfying return to electronica on Headfirst).
Perhaps I’m reading way too much into it but “Overdrawn” is still one of the most notable numbers here in the way the track turns into something which sounds like her own work completely. The use of vocals isn’t too overbearing, the music is kept simple with plenty of little riffs and motifs to make listening a little deeper worth it and hey, who doesn’t like handclaps? The only real problem I can see is that it’s a tad too short as the end seems to come a little prematurely and just as I’m really getting into the track. Along with this track, “Ladykiller” proves that Kibby definitely has the ability to write some good pop songs. As catchy as “Ladykiller” is once you let it seep into your head (the small teenage girl inside me may or may not have created dance routine to the song which she performs spontaneously in her living room), it can feel like it’s missing that little something to make it totally awe-inspiringly fantastic.
The potential is definitely there and it’s all over the rest of the EP. “Mountaineer” showcases a great ability to work with just her own voice and her ability to create affecting and impressive crescendos. While instrumental track “Oljato” also displays an ability to work well with voice (it throws in some male vocals alongside her own and the ominous music) it doesn’t offer much for the listener to actually engage with. “Cannibal Love” suffers in a similar way: it spends too much time breathing in and out that it forgets to say anything, and much like “Overdrawn” it fades away just as things get going in the last minute or so of the song.
Despite these flaws I have developed no desire to wipe White Sea off my radar. Considering this is her first release and she worked primarily on her own during the recording and creation process (she did have some help from her friends), the outcome is admirable. Even predicting her next step is hard which makes her future exciting. If she makes the right steps she might even be capable of making this a year of music one to class to with 2010 as a something to remember.
