UK based singer and songwriter Scarlet has been making a name for herself in recent months with her undeniably honest and emotional songwriting and performances. Her work offers audiences a professional, pop-inspired backdrop, with lyrics and leading vocals that openly fuse the mainstream sound with something very personal and real. Her latest EP Infinitely is a collection of four well written, well performed and varied songs that show a number of different sides and strengths that the artist has to offer.
Opening track Addicted has a huge build up and hook section that starts things off with a memorable bang. The interesting thing about this track is the artist’s unusual approach to the often touched upon topic of addiction. The most common way that addiction, the sort relating to relationships in particular, is expressed is in the form of the artist being the one who is addicted. In this case, the song explores the opposite, and the singer puts forth an explicitly honest presentation of the effects of having someone be addicted to you.
All of this, the lyrics, the unique perspective – as is the case with the vast majority of Scarlet’s songs – it comes alongside an extremely accessible musical backdrop. The music has the brightness of any well polished pop song, yet the songs reveal something much more personal and true to the writer’s own character and experiences. This fusion of the two worlds is something that is likely to appeal to a number of listeners or pop fans looking for something a little bit different.
Other Lung showcases some wonderful songwriting. The lyrics immediately capture your attention, the melodies and supporting harmonies that follow light up every moment with strength and originality, and musically the instrumentation has something very fresh, even minimal sounding at times, which helps those key ideas and vocal moments really stand tall. What works well about it is that there’s a good balance between the unusual, the unexplored, and the familiar – the track intrigues and appeals on both a mainstream and independent level. Such a well balanced fusion is rare.
As things move forward, Warning Signs offers a huge hook section, an emotionally poignant and vocally powerful chorus section, backed up by a fairly organic set of instruments. The track has style and feeling, presenting listeners with something big, but not at the cost of individuality. The hook is a massive take away in fact from the whole EP. The concept of being caught in your web and the power with which this idea is performed has a lasting effect. At all times throughout the collection, the artist’s personal approach to songwriting and singing are clear and consistent; the thread is there for audiences to familiarise themselves with, and yet the songs are varied and different in so many ways that there’s plenty to soak up as the project unfolds.
The final and title track Infinitely brings about a gentler portrayal of the artist’s inner thoughts and feelings. The unapologetic honesty of these songs holds a lot of value. The strength of this particular track comes from the softness of the performance, the vulnerability of the leading voice – surrounded merely by the picking of an acoustic guitar at first, and slowly building up to something a little more epic. Scarlet’s vocal performance evolves from the gentle to the powerful, from the whisper, the uncertainty, to the sureness and resolve, with flawless precision and skill. The music behind all of this supports each moment of change brilliantly, and the track leaves its mark fairly quickly.
The EP Infinitely comes out on March 24th. Check out the SugaSound Remix of Addicted and find and follow Scarlet on Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud & Spotify. Head over to Youtube to discover and enjoy a number of live and acoustic performances from the past twelve months.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZysiG7IoG1Q
