Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

South Africa is not the usual breeding ground for experimental musicians weaving the traditional set of instruments with odd ones like kalimbas (a small “hand piano” percussion instrument) and coke bottles (I’m assuming the old fashioned glass ones) with glockenspiels (somewhat like a xylophone) and baritone saxophones (normal for a band, right?) while dripping them with synth sounds and lilting vocals. Harmonium is the follow up EP to the album Frieze by Chris Letcher and his band with odd instruments.

The title track Harmonium sounds as if Chris were waking up from a drowsy sleep to greet the day and plucks its way into I Was Awake. The songs seem to be intertwined as a set and are enjoyable as such. Some of the tracks are simply edits or different versions of songs from the album his previous album Frieze, and the rest of the songs should have been included as bonus tracks to the album. I’m sure these will be packaged a few years down the road into a deluxe reissue when the rest of world grasps how good the debut album was.

Someone picking up this EP without hearing the album Frieze is definitely missing the full experience. Harmonium holds its own only when the album is absent. If you love Chris Letcher, download the extra tracks. If you have no idea who this rising star is, buy Harmonium for a taste; and then procure the whole album when you realize what you have been missing.