Tiny Moth’s self-titled debut EP makes waves. Five emotive songs crafted from fuzzy power and naked honesty. Doug Rimington is already a seasoned pro in the realm of fuzzed out riffs and densely layered tones but it was when he plugged into valve amps and adopted the stray cat he named Moth that he found the beginnings of an inspiration. Fast forward to a chance meeting with Jess Lambert, a vocalist with a gift for singing with her heart on her sleeve, and the project had found its catalyst. Recorded at Whitehouse Studio, where every inch of the analogue pedals and pulverizing drum sounds were given space to breathe, the end result sounds real and raw. Heavy but not suffocating. Immediate but textured.
“Look At Me” is a hefty introduction, charged by down-tuned sludgy grooves and a vocal performance by Jess that is powerful without being domineering. Her lyrical themes explore the weight of melancholy but it is an initial sadness in the melodies that remains with the listener. “Break Down The Walls” is urgent and perilous. Jess’s lyrics, harrowingly sharp in the ear, are both warning and rallying cry. Her ability to float from clean melody into moments of full on scream juxtapose the softer elements of each song with violent passion. It is a visceral response to a sound that drips with torment yet contains multitudes of grace. “Your Rage” is an interesting soundscape, more densely layered and primal in structure. The murky guitar work is interspersed by wiry solos that begin sparsely but quickly turn into rampant chaos. Jess’s tone throughout this one is unyielding, punctuated by what seem to be deeply personal and interior dialogues between her and Doug.
“Interlude” enters like an exhale. The soft and slow instrumental reprieve is like a settling dust. Lasting just over a minute, it offers the breathing room needed for “Tiny Moth”, the closer and longest song on the EP, to land its final, hammer blow. Beautiful in its heaviness, cinematic in its structure, Jess and Doug are locked into each other with clockwork precision, carefully holding space for the ugly and the lovely to co-exist. In a climate of competing digital noise, this EP, inspired by instinct and raw feeling, is cathartic and cathedral.
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