Posted on: September 13, 2008 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

The opening track on “The First Five”, “Hey Love” is a muted track that still is pretty intense when one actually sits down and listens to it. Something that really delineates Abraham’s vocals from the rest of pop-singers is eir attention to the arrangements present in the track. What really holds back a number of singers is the fact that they just lay their vocal track like a dead body over the instrumentation; Abraham ebbs and flows with the compositions throughout “The First Five”. The incorporation of the second set of vocals during the track gives the track enough of a full sound to allow the track to end on a high note, about three minutes after it started. “Someone Like You” is another track that just shows Abraham as possessing of a voice that cannot be tamed; this is essentially an Avril track with Stevie Nicks at the helm.

“Waiting For You” is the first really slow track of the disc, and armed only with an acoustic guitar, Abraham does admirably. The vocals are the main purveyor of harmonies during this track, even as the acoustic plays on quietly in the background. When one thinks of exactly how many track have been done in the exact same matter, it shows a great deal of talent on Abraham’s part to come up with something that is always interesting and able to be remembered quickly. At all points enjoyable, there is a smart instrumentation to the track that really ties itself to rock and indie music to the point that listeners of both these two genres will find something to grab onto.

“Fall On Your Knees” is confident to the degree that there are few possibilities that Abraham could fall flat. This track uses a nice doubled set of vocals to succeed; the instrumental intensity of the track gives Abraham a nice palette to work with. At time threatening to take the thunder away from Abraham, the instrumentation of “Hey Love” crackles strongly behind Abraham’s warbling vocals on the track. Abraham has been able to cut five tracks on “The First Five” that show essentially different styles of eir music and this EP is a great start to what will hopefully be a long and fruitful music career. Any of these five cuts could be singles; let’s hope that Abraham has a full album that works on the same high level.

Top Track: Entropy

Rating: 7.2/10

Mary Abraham – The First Five / 2005 A Plank In The Eye / 5 Tracks / http://www.maryabraham.com / [email protected] / Reviewed 16 March 2006

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