Hijera
The Seedy EP
by Matt GoldingThe music section of magazine dealers’ shelves can be depressing places.
Another week, another grumpy collection of pale youths we are promised will be the saviours of music. But for those disillusioned faithfuls who can feel themselves slowly drowning in an ooze of mundane emo, rehashed cleverness and institutionalised rebellion, Hijera have good news – there’s at least someone out there who remembers when music was fun. Evidently working on the same logic as a child who takes all his favourite flavours of Opal Fruits (yes, it is still possible to be in denial about this) and rolls them into a gigantic, sticky super-sweet, Hijera’s sound is an exciting pile-up of bombastic funk, no-nonsense leftfield, house beats and brit-pop laddishness. The synth oriented melodies are typically spacious and well produced – guitar riffs range from the wickedly infection rhythms of ‘Ten Thousand Eyes’ to the delicate arpeggios of ‘Skin Deep’, and bass lines from a filthy melodic squelch to the deep caverns of sound that only micro-biotic algae can hear. This is your favourite ever house party in melodic form, and its appeal to anyone who likes their music fun and brash will be obvious. But no one wants to party all the time and this is where the fault lies. Hijera only really seem to have two gears and whilst their sound is well practised and executed, there is little depth and only one formula that is revisited ad infinitum. The broad scope of genres covered provides variety, but are not used in any particularly inventive way. The mockney vocals add to the irreverent charm and overall character of the tunes, but seem more 'style' than 'substance' and are performed with little emotion. The Seedy EP is an enjoyable and effervescent listen, imbued with exactly the right sense of child-like enthusiasm to endear it to its audience. However, with repeated playing the repetitive nature of the sound becomes apparent and it’s impossible to shake the feeling that Hijera will have to come up with something a little more next time.
