Naoise Roo: Emotionally Magnificent – Doomy atmosphere shot through with delicate moments

Naoise Roo’s follow-up to her 2015 debut, Lilith, takes the idea of collage as a root, from its sonic palette to its thematic conceits. Incorporating four tracks from her 2020 Sick Girlfriend EP, Emotionally Magnificent takes the interior life as an underpinning, with a kind of doomy atmosphere weaving its way throughout.

Sick Girlfriend is a moody opener, showcasing Roo’s singular vocal. Blackhole’s bouncy basslines elevate and spring the song, complementing the similarly squelchy, punk-driven Whoever. Razor Sharp Shirt is squalling, messy and shift-shaping, persuasively conveying a sense of a difficult period of mental health while seemingly channelling the spirit of Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Silent Halls is The Undertones meet The Strokes; Falling Stars is all melancholy, exploring elements of the burnout of creative people, escaping from an industry that doesn’t really care.

The strongest parts of the record are to be found in the more delicate compositions. Sacred Cow is nuanced, with flecks of country flair. California meets that tone halfway, riffing sonically on the landscape and cultural history of that state; languid and mellow, it slowly unfurls to somewhere interesting. But it is probably Nobody Can Make Me Do What I Don’t Want To that is the record’s highlight, its beauty to be found in the loveliest of guitar sounds, creating an atmosphere that truly showcase Roo’s voice.