Feb 5
Press EP by Flora Cash | Album Review
Flora Cash’s 2019 EP takes us on sullen indie pop journey into relationships and making your way.
I will occasionally get random ads on Instagram for random record companies selling their various artist’s work on vinyl. The algorithm seems to know well of all my hunting online and on Discogs for various records. This one happened to be one that was showcasing the various indie artists work on vinyl. As I had not really heard of any of the artists, I decided to add a sampling of each to my Apple Music. One of which was the Flora Cash. The duo consists of musicians Shpresa Lleshaj and Cole Randall who started the group when they met in Sweden back in the early 2010s. The group’s sound is balances between indie pop and folk-pop.
The E.P opens up on “Indie On Loud’. Singer Shpresa gives the words a soft coo in her cursive cadence. The extremely airy tone of the guitar, organ, and synth flutes make for a rather stagnant listen until the beat kicks in halfway through the song. Lyrically, the song feels a little elementary. The track seems to focus around sexual gratification, but there are some lines that don’t really make sense to me (i.e.: “If you want me forever/ Got my life and/ Be my on time”). The chorus, “Indie loud/ And proud/ Do what I want/ Indie loud/ Indie on loud,” is a little too on the nose and generic for me. I find this song to be skippable. “They Own This Town” speaks on the hardships of making your own way due to the many road blocks set up by those in power.
“…play out the story as it sounds… because that really was our experience, the feeling that you’re being shut out of the ‘old boy’s club,’ or whatever, that you’re not hanging out with the cool kids and you gotta struggle to get in — and then you got bills to pay.”
The duo are thankful for each others support as they navigate the problems of money and opportunities. I’m still not taken by their lyrical style, “They own this town/ Maybe that’s why we get no ground/ We could go, if we don’t it’s a pity ‘cause/ I could tell you it’ll change but it never does.” Cole takes the helm on the lead vocals of the track. Together, Shpresa and Cole sound quite nice as her higher register plays well against his voice. I wish the song had a little more kick to it. As is, I find the drag of the piano melody to add a weight to song, which maybe what the duo wanted to personify the struggle of making a living under the current economy and environment. It’s a perfect average indie pop track.
“I Wasted You” continues the slow burn vibe. That said, I do appreciate the explosion of sound that erupts into the chorus. The duo trade off verses making for a pleasant radio friendly pop sound. The addition of harps give a welcomed texture to the song. I much prefer the songwriting on this track, a sort of call and return between two lovers caught in a love triangle. Randall’s role is the one of the other man who knows he should let her go back can’t seem to escape her gravity, “You belong to someone/ Lips tell it to my ear/ Everything I wanna hear/ But it ain’t right/ I don’t even quite belong in your life.” Lleshaj’s role is of the woman caught between lovers angry that she brought Randall into this situation, “Oh, what’ve I done?/ Giving you my guilt only made me numb/ I don’t feel right/ I feel like I wasted you.” I like the double meaning of wasting someone, either wasting the opportunity to be with someone or wasting another person emotionally.
The most catchy track on the E.P. is “You’re Somebody Else”. The song garnered them a wider popularity in after its use in a Movistar commercial in Mexico. It’s a gentle acoustically driven indie pop track. Although a bit on the mellow side for me, I easily see why this was chosen as the debut single from the E.P. The chorus is one that you will catch yourself humming without realizing. The duo sing on those moments in life you wear a mask to just to make it through the day.
“The song was sparked by that period of sadness we talked about. We both wrote it together, but it was actually me talking to myself — I felt like I was not myself; I was projecting my normal self, but I did not feel my normal self. And I thought about Shpresa — ‘the part of you that you see only when you are older’. I think that sometimes we see things in ourselves and people that they don’t see — the seed that is going to bloom throughout a person’s life. I see little seeds of a personally — like in my siblings– you can see seeds in little children. Like I see a child as a grandfather someday…that may be the best part of people but they can’t see it themselves.”
The song’s chorus tries to cut through this facade to try and help this person whose cocooned in a shell of themselves, “Well, you look like yourself/ But you’re somebody else/ Only it ain’t on the surface (Surface)/ Well, you talk like yourself/ No, I hear someone else though/ Now you’re making me nervous (Nervous).” I connect much better with the songwriting style of this song. You can feel the ache of the other partner wanting to reach this person through the track.
We end off this E.P. with the piano driven “Breakthrough”. I can’t say that I vibe with the vocal rhythm that Cole brings in the opening verse. I really wish the trap beat would have came in with more emphasis in the beginning. This track doesn’t feel like it knows if it wants to have a bit of a swagger or a mellow vibe. I think this clash hinders the song overall. Similar to the subject matter of “They Own This Town”, “Breakthrough” is call to work together and show all those who held you down where you are now, “When we break through, we need to tear it up/ We gotta leverage it all ’cause fuck it, it’s break or make do.” If the song had more energy and grit, I think the friction of trying to make it together against all odds would land better. It’s a bit too wilted as is for me.
Overall, the E.P. is middle of the road for me. The first song, “Indie on Loud” really doesn’t work for me at all. The other song’s aren’t bad. I think “I Wasted You” and “You’re Somebody Else” show real promise. I find that as it stands from this outing, the duo need add a little more spice to their folk/indie-pop inspired sound to set it apart from the rest. After listening a little to their latest album, Our Generation, shows much more growth in their sound and songwriting since the release of this E.P. My favorites:
- “I Wasted You”
- “You’re Somebody Else”
My overall rating: 4.5 out of 10.
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