Until recently, Berlin-based outfit Murmur Tooth was a fully functioning band. Now founding member Leah Hinton is going it alone. Still operating under the Murmur Tooth name, Hinton is continuing to make the music she wants to make while retaining complete artistic control; having written, played, recorded and produced the entire EP, and we salute her for that. The line-up change hasn’t had a negative impact on the music. If anything the music is better and stronger than before.
Dropping Like Flies is six songs that at times tightropes along the dark side of poetry. The title track is a prime example of Hinton doing her best Patti Smith impression while looking deep within herself, trying to understand the world and her place within it.
First single ‘A Belly Full’ reflects the city it was created in. The song pulses and moves with the awkwardness of a binary entity, much like the music of other Berlin bands such as Kraftwerk. However, over the droning, metronomic claps and electronics there are plenty of melodies adding dimension to the song.
Single number two, ‘The Accomplice’, is the longest song on the EP coming in at three minutes and 22 seconds; the others hit around or under the two-and-a-half-minute mark, so my advice is to keep the EP on a loop. Its trip-hop style beat combined with more thoughtful lyrics penetrate the middle ear deep into the inner part of the organ, making every element of the song resonate through bone and tissue; it’s as elegant and striking as any song on the EP.
Via Murmur Tooth Hinton weaves her magic and creates some of the most compelling art you’ll hear in 2018. If you’re an artist struggling with writer’s block, or a lack of direction, then get some Murmur Tooth in your life. Truly inspiring.
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