Entertain for the Braindead – Raw Timber EP (Aaahh Records)

There's something perpetually captivating about Julia Kotowski's voice. Each one of her releases to date has shown a sort of delicacy of voice which sounds almost effortless on her behalf and which gains all the more charm for that fact. There's a subtlety there, a naturalness which removes leaves her music less as a contrived, structured effort and more as an organic act, not crying out for attention or demanding anything from the listener, just flowing into existence with an un-forced beauty which is always worth hearing.

So sufficed to say I've only got good things to say about her 'Raw Timber' EP which is a short collection of new and old songs, recorded and re-recorded out in what I'm imagining is a fairly idyllic forest, complete with nymphs and elves frolicking in the undergrowth and the occasional sparrow to land on Julia's shoulder. The result is a surprisingly un-raw sounding album which only rarely shows the sort of roughness which might be expected from a project like this. For the most part though EftB just plays to her strengths though, giving full attention to the delicacy of her voice and playing which succeeds regardless of the primitivism of the surroundings, even beneffiting from a more honest performance than hefty editing and technical indulgence may offer.

The EP was initially released as a limited run hard copy, which I'm sad to say I noticed to late to order for myself but true to her habitual, CC based, generosity Julia gladly encourages those who did get the CD to share it and release it to the world so torrents are available out there. Doing our bit over at TCUC though the album is also hosted here as a direct download for all of you who missed out. As a side note though it's definitely worth splashing out for EftB's other physical releases, both to show some love for their creator and because, on occasion, it really is worth owning a hard copy of your very own.

Download 'Raw Timber EP' (Direct Download)