REVIEW: Courtesans – Better Safe Than Sober (EP)

Having recently announced their upcoming appearance on the Sophie Lancaster stage of Bloodstock Open Air Festival later this year, London’s doom-pop four piece Courtesans stand poised to unleash their new EP Better Safe Than Sober on 31^st March.

Tracing the path of their 2014 full-length début 1917, the band’s latest five track studio offering has been funded entirely through a public campaign hosted on Pledge Music. Tapping into a tight community of die-hard fans, the Better Safe Than Sober campaign soared an additional 43% over its intended goal, and from where we’re standing it seems safe to say that pledger’s hard-earned dough has not been put to waste.

Musically, though doom and pop may seem unlikely bedfellows (the latter holding the potential to send a shiver of disgust down the spine of many a metal junkie), Better Safe Than Sober flourishes the tell-tale tropes of the dark, trudging doom genre with a sultry and seductive palette of colour and grit. Deep, sweeping strokes of melodic melancholy are laced with a sexually-charged vocal presence brought to life by the hypnotically bittersweet voice of Sinead La Bella.

Sat atop a more animated presentation of the doom genre, La Bella toys with dark, catchy and cleanly-sung melodies, switching effortlessly into pleasantly jarring sections of rhythmically spoken word – we’re avoiding the word “rap”, because what’s presented here doesn’t fit into that category. The supporting instrumentation of grinding guitars and percussion snakes through varying levels of depth, creating a backdrop dripping with atmosphere, brimming with tension and ultimately leaving what may prove to be a lasting impression.

Better Safe Than Sober‘s five tracks just ain’t enough for us, and the stinging desire for more has us looping back around for just one more ride across the EP’s meandering contours. We’d hazard a guess and say you’re likely to do the same, and though we may have some time to wait before the band release another full-length album, what’s presented here is just about enough to keep us ticking over until Bloodstock.

There’s a lot to love in Courtesans upcoming EP release, both musically and in terms of its underlying message; Better Safe Than Sober presents itself as a celebration of sexuality and femininity, a sentiment mirrored by the band, who claim “We want to not only encourage women in music, but for more men to accept that it is OK to look up to female artists”.

The subject of women in metal has long been a hot talking point among alternative communities, but with the stereotypes and connotations of the term “female-fronted” now producing more audible sneers of distaste from young female hopefuls and established musicians alike, Courtesans latest studio release marks yet another noteworthy achievement for the fairer sex; one that is well worth paying attention to.