Something a bit deliciously different here but boundaries are meant to be pushed and we cannot be listening to the same styles all the time, things would quickly get stale. Heading off to the south coast and the seaside City of Brighton, home of many a muso, we find the flame haired and multi-talented Mishkin Fitzgerald. Constantly on the go if not with main project Birdeatsbaby than with teaming up with like-minded artists for collaborations such as the up and coming electronic occult duo HVIRESS, running musical teaching classes and no doubt learning whatever instrument is put in her hands, playing shows and running Patreon campaigns for her varied and eager followers, making videos. She never seems to stop and it’s dizzying enough just to keep up with what is going on in her world. Cue latest project Mishkin Fitzgerald & The Chemical Perils who are far from a solo act but involve friends and family from aforementioned projects playing double bass, violin, cello, saxophone, clarinet, flutes, trumpet and tuba, alongside the accordion and piano from Mishkin herself. Naturally there are plenty of genres explored on this 9 track, 30-minute debut EP.
I love the opener ‘Pink Elephants’, (originally written by Disney film composers Frank Churchill and Oliver Wallace) where you can clearly hear many of the instruments literally trumpeting their call. Think Saint Saens, Santa Sangre, The Jungle Book, Dumbo, Danny Elfman and of course Nellie herself. Male and female vocals are added at the half-way mark and give it a delightful stage show feel which would not surprise me if the artists went on to write their own pantomime. ‘Legs Broken’ is one of several Klezmer inspired songs with an accordion etched waltz flowing through it, traditional musically and apocryphal in story. It’s great fun and guaranteed to put a smile on your face. ‘Lou’s Song’ centres on delicate piano, subtle string accompaniment and lilting voice. Ha, it’s possibly the lightest song ever mentioned on this site but its simplicity reaches far. ‘Blame’ should be a bit more rooted in familiar territories and is a gorgeous dark folk ballad presented as a duet in similar fashion to Nick Cave and Kylie, perhaps with a touch of The Beautiful South about it. Watch the video below and see if it soothes your blackened heart.
We sway into ‘I Only Get What You Give Me’ and go a bit Jewish crazy wedding and kick up a storm on ‘Bleat.’ Later we get a delirious tale about an unfortunate donkey being blown up by dynamite on ‘Himaar Miyet’, I kid you not! At first I thought this was a traditional fable but can’t find any trace of it, or the donkey for that matter, which unfortunately went boom. Black metal lyricists take note. It’s left for the title track to bring you back to earth, ‘Grace’s Cradle’ being a gorgeous melodic ballad to pull at the heart strings and leave you feeling all warm and toasty.
There’s a wealth of talent here and even if musically it’s very different from our normal fare you might well find yourself as equally enchanted as I if you give it a try. The Chemical Perils have been playing live too, on a whoever turns up on the night is in the band basis. If that aint rock n’ roll I don’t know what is.
(8/10 Pete Woods)
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