Album Review: Cassandra Violet’s EP 4 Questions If Lust Is Carnal or Cathartic?

Casandra Violet’s EP 4 is pretty dark, and by that I mean “pretty” and “dark”. These are two entities that, in essence, do not live together, but, in music, are happily sharing an apartment. Nowadays, people love the seediness of music; a feeling that mischief has married the colorful of life to make a baby called Fun. In EP 4, that baby had four tracks that invite wildness into the tension of lust.

“Xtheline” and “Pretty” have a baseline that goes so deep into the the soul it might as well have a shovel. Violet uses synths like drapes; the minute you put one to side, you have entered a lounge of music. The heaviness/ eco-rock of these tracks is in direct contrast to the jazzy pop feels of “Drinking Song” and “Invisible Man” that make you want shimmy are keys and chords cha-cha-cha in desire. Either vibe works because they share a common question; “Who makes the move?”. From the first move to the last in a relationship, when are you supposed to take control and make clear your wants and needs is perplexing. You would think that love meant being a walking, billboard sign of clarity, but relationships are also about compromises, which means you have to read your partner before you tell him or her.

EP4 plays with the idea of lust as something beyond carnal as much as cathartic. We only desire each other because a person can spark something in you that make you decide how to fulfill yourself. In essence, loving someone else can be a step to loving yourself. I cannot argue with that of Cassandra’s vocals which can go from 60’s pop of sweetly/ naively sensual to ragged/razored covetousness. Either way, she only plays with her vocals to promote that being playful is not sinful; it is wild and the interchangeability is unnecessary. For More Information On Caseandra Violet’s EP 4, out on December 1, Click Here.