Album Review : Ebony Bones - Bone Of My Bones

Bones’ first desideratum was to create something that sounded like London – something glamorous, coquettish and fierce and which captured the cultural diversity and frenzied cacophony of the capital - and for the first half of her debut at least, she’s succeeded.

Opener 'W.A.R.R.I.O.R.' is an apt way to introduce her chaotic but catchy sound, with a hollow hand-clapped beat, squelchy bassline and crashing cymbals amidst tribal chanting. It establishes Bones as a feisty, no–nonsense breed of pop star. But it’s from the ensuing Orwellian-themed ‘We Know All About You’ where the album really begins to gather speed. The same oozing electronic nub is employed again, only this time with a sinister yet addictive undercurrent accompanying threatening lyrics (“where you live, where you go, we know all about you yes we do…”) and underpinning layers of cowbells, whistles, schizophrenic beats and shrill yelps.

In the same irrepressible vein, we get ‘The Muzik’ and ‘Story of St. Ockwell’. The former switches from  Mardi Gras to clubland with each verse and chorus, while the latter is a barbed sneer at policies of racial equality in employment (“boy I know you got an education, but we’re not looking for your qualification, but if you go next door there’s a job at the petrol station”). Things are looking good.

Sadly, Bone of My Bones is not an ebullient celebration from start to finish. The veneer begins to slip on the album's eponymous sixth track, an instrumental separating of the album’s good from the not so-.

For instance, throwing in the vulnerable, gently-strummed ‘Guess We’ll Always Have York’ midway is just plain odd; it's a surprise after all the earlier fighting talk and rainbow-drenched rhythms. Throughout the album, Bones’ vocals are pretty ancillary to the music they soundtrack and Bones' own explosive aesthetic. What we get though, is a ghost of her previous spunk and a trite vocal crooned out to boot. While it’s perfectly fine to indulge in your sensitive side, this is just a shallow version of The Cardigans’ ‘Lovefool’ where the lyrics, “I’m busy shagging someone else to get over you”, were undoubtedly meant to sound poignant but just come off as disingenuous and lacking in emotional impact.

The unimaginative ‘Smiles & Cyanide’ and the repetitive ‘When It Rains’ coast past leaving no discernible imprint, and before long it’s evident that the "sound of London" is becoming one incessant blur. By the end it’s incredible to think that what started off so vibrant could become so formulaic. It’s not that these songs are bad, they’re just nowhere near as playful or addictive as their forebears - even though they sustain the same concept.

Despite its low points, it would still be harsh to say this is a weak or even a bad album. What Bones is doing is hardly original, but what she has done is to put her indelible and unique stamp on things. It’s just a shame that by the end, her technicolour carnival kind of loses its punch.