EP Review: T.W.i.N.S – ‘T.W.I.N.S’
3 min read
T.W.i.N.S, which is actually an anagram for The Words I Never Said, are set to release their debut self titled EP. No, Laurence and Hugo aren’t actually twins if you were thinking of asking. The UK pair debuted their urban/pop sound last year with their single Found A Flat, which enjoyed radio play on BBC Radio to much critical acclaim and led to them establishing their fan base at home and around the world. Their talents have also been mustered to produce remixes of various artists, their most notable to date being their remix of Mexico by Scanners in October 2013. Let’s have a look at T.W.i.N.S, their debut EP release.
Let’s take a second to admire the heck out of these guys for self producing their own material, although it is common in the dance genre for acts to produce themselves, but this is still admirable; and not too shabby either! The boys really know what they want out of their work as each song seems unique and they have really established their own sound. We are enveloped in a musical atmosphere with elements of hip hop, dancehall, urban and pop grooves.
Republic of Banana, strange name, opens T.Wi.N.S quite well and is the most downbeat track of the release; the video was shared by Bloc Party’s lead singer, Kele Okereke, on his personal blog. The track does seem really repetitive, but is redeemed by being undeniably catchy and being lyrically captivating; it reflects on the ever changing environment of their local shopping district and the misfortunes of local stores.
The tempo of track number two, What’s The Time?, proves to be more fast-paced fun. However, the repetitiveness seems to have wormed its way into this song as well; there are many dance songs out there that use continuous riffs, although in many of those songs the melodies and harmonies change to add to the overall dynamic of the tune. That won’t stop you from nodding your head though. Germs, we get a little down tempo again, is quirky in its own right and seems to be the track with the least layers of instrumentation on the release.
One thing noticeable about the tracks on T.W.i.N.S is that we are not forced to sit through a drag of an intro before the songs get right down to business, which differentiates them from typical dance/electronic content. We are in for a treat when listening to iPhone Song; we are introduced with the familiar sound each song has had so far, but this track launches into this punchy chorus that is somewhat resemblant of the Beastie Boys, probably the highlight track of the EP depending on the listener. Running From The Television seems to have been a strange song to end the EP on, it didn’t really leave you wanting more which is unfortunate, even though the overall feel of the song was lightly catchy and brighter than its predecessors; it would have fared better somewhere in the middle.
T.W.i.N.S are undeniably talented and have a lot of potential in their genre of music, as artists and producers; their self-titled debut needed a bit more substance to stand out more, but we have just got to give them loads of credit for establishing their own distinct sound that is unique compared to others that fall in the same genre. T.W.i.N.S presented us with songs that are straight to the point, it doesn’t keep us wondering what the hell they’re going to be on about. If the boys were to release an full length album anytime soon, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to grab a copy and give them a go. In the meantime, get your T.Wi.N.S fix with this EP. We won’t be hearing the last of them anytime soon.
