Released: 12/01/2013
6/7
With only a cello, a Wurlitzer electronic organ, and a drum set, You Are Plural creates a lush and full sound that doesn’t seem like it could come from only three people. Rabbit Rabbit, released earlier this December, is the first full length album You Are Plural released under Brick Lane Records and Side With Us Records. Edging up on an almost Sufjan Stevens feel, You Are Plural lulls sweet relaxation with the soft pull of the cello bow throughout. Jen Grady’s enchanting voice intertwines with Ephriam Nagler’s in harmonies that are occasionally matched by the echoing synthesizer.
Beginning as bubbling indie pop “The Best is Yet to Come” has an urgency to it that only builds the excitement as the synthesizers get into full swing, and it is true the best is yet to come. Up next is the album’s name sake and one of the take away memorable songs, “Rabbit Rabbit” is the most upbeat song on this album. Quirky and light it sings about being “In the hole” and being “raised in the shadows of the forest at night.” You Are Plural has a rhythm emphasis coming from all angles, with cello and synth adding to the building rhythms throughout. It seems almost as if no instrument has one standing role, with vocal melodies occasionally taken over by the electronic organ and vocals giving an almost percussion input. They are breaking out of a box. As Rabbit Rabbit progresses, it slowly turns to night growing into a colder and darker winter evening climaxing finally in “We Are Cold Inside” -- a cello focused intensity that Grady’s vocals softly curve around until is fades into "For Years."
- The Best is Yet to come
- Rabbit Rabbit
- If You Know Me
- Cut Along the Line
- The River is Forming Skin
- Undefined
- We Are Cold Inside
- For Years
Formed in 2010 when Nagler and Grady met on a tour bus crossing the French countryside, You Are Plural eventually settled down for a while to focus on recording in Olympia, WA. But You Are Plural has not stopped their travels, having toured with the likes of Mt St Helens Vietnam Band, Lake, and Typhoon. Although the lulling of Rabbit Rabbit is soft and sweet, the need to wake up becomes more necessary. Recorded and mixed by the multi-talented Ephriam Nagler, Rabbit Rabbit has many soft edged gems sprinkled in and amongst its drum beats waiting to be uncovered.
