When it comes to song writing, Rachel Sermanni is a seasoned veteran. Releasing her first album back in 2012, she’s amassed a great music portfolio consisting of four albums (consisting of one live album) and many singles. However, it’s Sermanni’s newest EP Swallow Me which we’re taking a look at, which is her first release for 2021.
As a listener, I haven’t heard too much of Sermanni’s work – but I’m already annoyed at myself for not stumbling on to her music sooner.
Swallow Me served as a great introduction to Sermanni’s work, as I really got a feel for her as a songwriter and a vocalist. The title track ‘Swallow Me’ opens the EP up and is a wonderous opening. The acoustic strums are a familiar sound, yet the vocals are something different to anything I’ve heard previously. Soft and assured they work well with the folk style, embedding a calming style much like Bombay Bicycle Club do on their Flaws album. Sermanni lingers on some words when delivering the vocals, and it’s beautiful, you could just listen to her on that one note forever.
Then we come to ‘Brighton House’ (not literally), which is probably the most descriptive track on the EP with Sermanni painting imagery with her words. “Round and round / sound on sound / your ghost, it lingers here” and “From the seat / was bittersweet / where I kissed you last” are just two of my favourite lines from the track. They aren’t simplistic lyrics with a clear rhyming pattern, it’s poetry from Sermanni throughout and this song is the best promotion for that.
‘Travelled’ is the longest track on the EP, and offers a contrast to the two previous song. With a cold plodding, stalking beat, Sermanni delivers a track which has glimmers of Nick Cave, but much softer. The whirring slider on the guitar is a nice touch, as it separates itself even further from the other tracks, but not so far that it sticks out like a saw thumb. ‘Love My Love’ ties up the EP, and it’s possibly my favourite on the release. The distant harmonies in the background are perfectly placed, so they just offer an extra tone to the main vocals. Same can be mentioned about the subtle piano work on the song, as it tries not to impeach on the guitar too much as well as the overall song.
This EP has made a fan out of me. After not knowing of Rachel Sermanni prior to the release, I won’t forget her after it. There’s a lot of acoustic acts who are good but seldom do you hear an artists comfortably nail it on all fronts. Sermanni has put together an EP which is a perfect advert for her music, which I will have to take a deep dive into after this review. There’s not much you can do with a stripped back acoustic guitar, but Sermanni is able to make each song have completely different feel to the last, and you have to appreciate that. A wonderful EP, and now it’s time to get lost in her back-catalog!