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Plumerai
Plumerai - Marco Polo Marco Polo
MP3 EP 2012 | Silber 112
4 tracks, 16 minutes
download zip file from Silber
The first recording of Plumerai with all new line-up featuring new vocalist Eliza Brown & new drummer Mickey Vershbow.

: Press Release
: Digital Booklet

Track Listing:
Marco Polo
Trip
Mortality
Loss


Reviews:
Plumerai opens up “Marco Polo” with not and air of exploration or pool games, but a certain variety of witchcraft. The magic is introduced by a shimmering circular guitar part that winds over and through and under itself like some optical illusion, except for the fact that it is an auditory illusion. The guitar serves as a semi-constant companion for vocalist Eliza Brown, who completes the bewitching circle with soothe-saying vocal that gets you spinning in circles even moreso.
Brown’s vocal melody dovetails with that of the guitar, as the two wind about the mix like dance partners, their eyes trained not upon each other but those of the listener. We remain helplessly fixed in their hypnotic gaze, even when the upbeat chorus comes around and everything starts jangling and making our vision all hazy. Seriously, Plumerai, what did you put in this stuff? The churning bubbles like a cauldron full of magical elixir, splashing all over the place and changing every surface it touches.
Brown pushes her vocal to the highest registers available, although it never sounds like she is “pushing” anything, per se – her voice remains perfectly clear and unbroken. This level of control maintains not only her voice, but the song’s posture – it never falters or weakens in its hypnotic effect. You may find that you haven’t blinked for this track’s 3:20 runtime, and you will further notice that you don’t care, as long as Plumerai keeps the spell weaving.
~ Boston Band Crush

This band is beauty personified. Their music is ethereal and swirly, much like Cocteau Twins and Bel Canto. Eliza Brown’s voice captivates and entrances. The guitars are swirly and chimey while the rhythm section chugs along quite contently. . . . This band has been around for a few years and has seen many lineup changes. I do feel this combination of musicians is indeed the strongest they’ve had & I hope they continue to make music as impressive as this in their current configuration.
~ The Noise-Boston

Some bands are never the same again after key members depart. Others thrive on it and bring in replacements who even serve to add something extra. Plumerai’s core duo of Martin and James Newman formed the group in Boston, Massachusetts in 2005. However, shortly after their last album in 2011, both drummer and vocalist departed but were soon replaced by singer Eliza Brown and new stickswoman Mickey Vershbow. It was a good move based on the outift’s new EP, entitled ‘Marco Polo’.
Plumerai’s USP is definitely Eliza Brown. It is quite rare to have such a strident female vocalist fronting a shoegazing act, let alone one whose style would be more traditionally suited to jazz music. Her quality shines through on the EP’s title track and her range is almost enough to carry the melody on its own but Martin Newman provides a hypnotic jangly guitar figure as accompaniment. ‘Trip’ and the insistent ‘Mortality’ aren’t quite as arresting but Plumerai do sound more like a band rather than a vehicle for a singer. The group save their widcard to the end, however, and it arrives in the form of ‘Loss’; a folk-inflected number with Brown weaving in and out of the twisting key changes and Vershbow’s doomy rhythms.
Half of this EP may be solid rather then spectacular fare but the two other tracks certainly stand out from Plumerai’s contemporaries; offering a versatility and uniqueness that will be the envy of many. A new album will be arriving shortly which should prove that they can last the distance.
~ Leonard's Lair