Cat's Eyes Cat's Eyes

Faris Badwan has undeniably grown into his voice of late and while it may still remain limited in places, his distinctive belly croon has fast become a characteristic and idiosyncratic voice of the last few years. The vocal transformation from The Horrors debut Strange House to the follow-up Primary Colours has almost been on a parallel trajectory to that of Hayden Thorpe of Wild Beasts: both exuding their primitive and shrieking howls in the early days until they realised that restraint and velvetiness could hold just as much power, bile and gusto. So, a collaborative album with a soprano then, is a continuation of his vocal evolution while still embracing the love for sixties production and song-structure that his band expelled via the garage-romp offerings on their debut.

Rachel Zeffira’s voice acts as a simultaneous antidote and accompaniment to Faris’ – their vocal merging always acting as an interesting exploration in collaboration. Especially on the opening Cat’s Eyes, which may be the most bombastic and vivacious song on the record, yet is still undeniably one of the most infectious. It’s indebted to the apparent impetus of the project, but manages to sound fresh and exhilarating rather than derivative or tiresome. The ensuing the best person I know, is a fragile and discreet number that allows the production to crawl to the surface, clawing up from the coffin of Joe Meek. One of the most illuminating and endearing qualities that starts to emerge from the record is how much depth and how many levels there are to something that was created in a very short space of time. The strings on I’m not stupid are equally sombre and stimulating – an attempt at capturing that same balance that Scott Walker so seamlessly emanated so many years ago.

As we hit the middle-to-end stretch of the record, momentum is lost a tad – it becomes a little too lost in its attempts to recreate rather than create. More than anything, the continuity is lost rather than the quality, it feels like two or three EPs being broken up rather than a collective and coherent body of work being presented as an album. While this creates variety and intrigue, it does result in an often jarred listening experience.

While Faris was adamant in his declaration that this creation was more than simply a ‘side-project’, it doesn’t pack the punch of a fully-fledged and committed band outing. Having said that, there are some sincere moments of beauty, splendour and achievement in this record. Sounding grandiose and understated simultaneously is not an easy feat, but it’s one that Cat's Eyes manages to do almost relentlessly.