No Windows - The Great Traitor
“I’m losing maybe, I’ll fade completely.”
The Great Traitor is the third EP by Scottish pop duo No Windows. The six-track project builds on their previous work, adding new, more musically diverse elements and refining certain details, creating a captivating, intricately constructed atmosphere.
The principal strong suit of this EP is definitely the songwriting, handled by vocalist Verity Slangen. The lyricism on the project strikes a fine balance between being tender and gentle in some moments and raw and vulnerable in others. She also has some major highlights when it comes to her vocal performances, with a solid amount of versatility to her singing to fit the changes in intensity and mood. The EP features several instances where Slangen transmits some really compelling angst, particularly on the tail end of the track “Sugarcoat”. The main highlight, however, is the closer and second single, “Easter Island”. It’s almost hauntingly soft and gentle, with really beautiful vocal harmonies between Slangen and multi-instrumentalist Morgan Morris, the other half of the duo. Morris’ own instrumental work throughout the project is very skillful and creative, combining indie and psychedelic elements surprisingly naturally and smoothly.
The one issue that I have with The Great Traitor is that the mixing could have arguably used some more work. In certain cases, the instrumentals end up overpowering the vocals in terms of the vocals. The production itself is really smooth and pleasant, but the elements don’t necessarily fit together as well as they could’ve. This doesn’t spoil the overall picture too much, but it does take away slightly from my enjoyment of the songs.
Overall, The Great Traitor is an EP with plenty of heart and a very distinct feel to it. It shows ever-expanding potential from No Windows as an act, and is a pretty significant step forward from their previous EP, “Point Nemo”. There’s still certain things they can improve at, particularly when it comes to the post-production, but what they already have is at a very high level.
7.6/10
