EP Review: HollySiz – Come Back To Me
2 min read
HollySiz is the stage name of French actress Cécile Cassel who this year has taken a step away from her successful film career to try her hand at pop music. Her debut EP Come Back To Me is already on people’s radars with her music videos raking in millions of views. However, with an album expected to drop in 2015, it will be interesting to see if the style and attitude she so clearly demonstrates in her videos carries across in the music alone.
The EP opens on a high with the positive Better Than Yesterday. The immediately hooky guitar and plenty of hand-clapping makes Better Than Yesterday a successfully upbeat track, but what’s really attention grabbing are the vocals. Their clarity gives her a presence, as though she is in the room with you, while the unpredictable lyric patterns keep listeners on their toes.
With almost 2.5 million YouTube views main single Come Back To Me has already proven itself a hit with her audience and the appeal is understandable. It’s an infectious disco track with its driving bass line, however it does feel like a song that has already been done. The quirkiness of Cassel’s vocals do give the song an edge as she keeps them raw and unpolished, allowing her accent to shine through.
The instrumentals in the following track, Girl In The Corner, are straightforward and don’t do anything particularly revolutionary, but it is a harmless tune and enjoyable enough. The vocal harmonies later in the track definitely add more depth to the song, however.
The EP finishes off with the slower The Light. With a heavier downbeat The Light does carry some impact, but the beat and instrumentals remain very basic for the first half of the track. Gradually they build to a more complex and engaging conclusion, however the regurgitated content of the lyrics make this tune appear a little uninspired. She clearly has good intentions and she’s trying to communicate a positive message, but they come across as a little clichéd and unoriginal.
Overall, Come Back To Me is a bit hit and miss. The videos are certainly worth checking out, but it is possible that her on screen presence may be too vital a part of her for her personality to fully shine through in the music alone.
