When a band shrouded in mystery rises to the surface of the indie blogosphere, it builds an unknown into their visual appeal. The peripheral pair Keep Shelly in Athens known by the monikers of Sarah P. and RPR are downtempo meets trip-hop, in a heavenly and curious combination which combine genres and fosters distant ambiance. As their name suggests, they hail from Athens, Greece. The partnership has successfully created a hazy, ominous appeal, yet has remained relatively under the radar after releasing their first EP Our Own Dream in the fall of last year.
Masking their personal identities is one approach to creating appeal and demand, but the real pull of the shadowy unit comes from their ability to navigate a fantasia-like course, swimming through high and low pitches, and as with the end of “Our Own Dream,” crashing into a shimmery, shoegaze oblivion.
High-pitched vocals from Sarah P. carve half-wake, brooding lullabies in a way that makes you feel like a somnambulist, had Dr. Caligari’s been controlling for causes of good. A repeat of their album will be sure to take you on a painfully honest overdose of sleeping pills taken far too early in the day. If hypnotic side effects like that which just described happens while listening to the blissful duo, surely take a minute’s pause from your headphones, for they can easily drown you into a sea of heavy synth pop.
Another track on their album, “Lazy Noon” builds a promisingly sunny paradise while pressing chords will drift you into a daydream like weary fishermen snoozing away into hammocks. If dozing off and ocean paradise isn’t your kind of relaxation, skip back to their newly released single “Own Our Dream,” or “DIY” both which by having dance-worthy break beats, are altogether more accessible songs.
Sarah P.’s sultry and mystical vocals are what’s most wonderful about the highs and lows of Keep Shelly In Athens. They are perhaps most uncannily reminiscent of Portishead lead singer Beth Gibbons’ work. On the other side there are more seriously memorable bass beats stricken within Keep Shelly in Athens, while layered upon Sarah’s subtle angel voice. If Air’s recent album Le Voyage Dans La Lune has not sufficed your craving for Air since the nineties, Keep Shelly in Athens’ duality might fill that musical gap for the now generation.
Keep Shelly in Athens – Our Own Dream from Thanasis Tsimpinis on Vimeo.