Written for here: http://www.7bitarcade.com/music/article/album-review-sky-larkin-motto/
Whilst on the road as an additional musician for the amazing Wild Beasts, Katie Harkin found time to start writing her main bands third album with the end result being the rather splendid Motto by Sky Larkin.
It’s not just the bands front woman that’s been busy though, as prior to this release drummer Nestor Matthews sat behind the kit to record with Giant Fang and lo-fi outfit Menace Beach whilst guitarist Nile Marr (son of the Smiths Johnny Marr) took time out to promote his solo offerings under the moniker of Man-Made.
Although influenced by spending a year and a half of her life with fellow indie rockers the production on Motto is a lot dirtier than that of Wild Beasts, whereby producer John Goodmanson (responsible for Girls and Los Campesinos! as well as mixing the likes of Sepultura) has helped create an album with raw and almost garage rock like tendencies. The fuzzy guitars on ‘The Loyal Beat’ being a fine example of a more straight forward track however ‘Newsworthy’ combines sweeping affects with Katie’s cool, natural voice and maintains an upbeat tempo, whilst lyrically ‘Treasury’ and ‘Loom’focus on the traditional song writing subjects of all things loved and lost.
The pace of the album slows down slightly with ‘Frozen Summer’, but is almost a song of two halves as after four minutes it descends into an instrumental soundscape but without losing direction from where it started.
Maybe not quite to the same extent, penultimate track ‘Italics’ also follows this lead with Katie Harkin hammering home the songs title before drums crash in and head back to the catchy riff bringing the song to an end before the albums beautiful closing number ‘Que Linda (wake to applause) takes a more subtle but just as captivating approach.
Having been recorded overseas in Seattle, there’s a natural link to the grunge scene but it goes deeper than just landing in the States as Motto has a very natural, live in the studio vibe about it with the band sticking to their roots whilst making an album that flows from beginning to end and one that is sure to gain high praise within the indie rock scene.
