2 A.M. ORCHESTRA: Fire Escape EP

By Amanda Mills

2 a.m. Orchestra is the long term recording project of Californian David Kelley, who moved to Auckland 18 months ago, and very quickly gathered together a group of local musicians to perform and write new music. The line-up on ‘Fire Escape’ is his NZ band’s second, and features Kelley, Tim Gittins and Tim Bern playing an acoustic, stripped-back set, rather than the full-on rock of previous 2 a.m. Orchestra recordings. While the music does not have the rock arrangements, the textures are there, with the use of mandolins and ukuleles lending a country-rock sound to the EP. Although pretty and accomplished (the instrumental performances are often delicate and subtle), the music doesn’t inspire repeated listening. Unfortunately the songs are repetitive, the vocals blending in with the laid-back vibe of the music with little variation in tone or energy level, until closing track I Can’t Sleep – a song that has an upbeat toe-tapping rhythm, and seems to rouse Kelley from his vocal lethargy.

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NZ Musician

October/November 2010