Captain Crocodile’s EP, Moon Presence is available to hear now, and it’s time to get listening to this musical masterpiece. Captain Crocodile is a solo project of Jack Norrie, a talented musician who is going to do very well on the alternative music scene, should this EP, the second Captain Crocodile has released, be anything to go by. Special credit to Raye Osterloh who co produced and co wrote the entire EP.
The first track, titled Black Lungs, instantly grabs you as soon as you hear it, with its twangy and Hawaiian-esque guitars. It automatically gives the song atmosphere, particularly when merged with the murky mixing and production style which is present throughout the EP. There is a lot of reverb and echo, giving it a trippy feel that remains in every song. There is a similar tone and feel to all five compositions.
During the entire EP, we hear effects and instrumentation that make it sound quite blurry, and matched with the quite slurred vocals, there’s a chill, drunk feeling to all the tracks. The slidy sounding guitars make it feel unsteady. Imagine a night out, this is what it would feel like the morning after if you could only hear audio. It’s dirty and uncomfortable, all made possible with the dark soundscape. And it’s brilliant.
Black Lungs also gives the first insight into Captain Crocodile’s singing range, an unusual baritone vocal, which in context with the song, sounds like someone talking to you in a dream. This is because the track sounds eerie, ethereal, and certainly very dream-like. As the instruments pick up midway through the song, it still feels fairly subdued but it is here that the song holds more of a tune rather than the dark ambience of the first minute.
We then smoothly transition into track two, When I Saw U, which is something Captain Crocodile does incredibly well. Each song flows nicely into the next, making it an easy listen. This time you can hear a slightly higher vocal range, giving the feeling of him actually ‘singing’ as opposed to the more spoken word sound we hear in the first song.
I’ll Never See U Again, which is the EP’s third song, doesn’t follow a traditional verse, chorus, verse, chorus structure. Instead it builds up to the repetitive chorus before fading out with the trademark Captain Crocodile slurred vocals. The build up to this though is great, and whilst it means that the song doesn’t flow in the same way others might, it builds soundscapes, much like all the other tracks on Moon Presence.
The Fourth Song, Subdued, has an interesting opening, using the instruments in a descending motif that punctuates the end of every bar. This means that even when there are no vocals, it still sounds amazing. The halfway point in this song, much like in the first track, sees the track being more high energy but in a more traditional sense this time.
Despite actually referencing the idea of ‘trippiness’ in the final track, Shroomy, this one is perhaps the least trippy of all the tracks. Instead it is a fun burst of energy to end the EP on. Moon Presence has a largely chilled vibe, so this last shot of liveliness really shines and ends the EP on a good note.
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