Cede is a collaboration between Becci Wallace and Alan Kerr – both of whom have other musical lives but this is a great coming together of their musical histories and influences.
The vibe is folky (possibly “urban folk”?), with acoustic guitars mainly in use, and not much percussion – their voices are great together, Alan quite soft and Becci slightly shriller but very expressive… her voice has a quality which is hard to put a finger on, but is getting better and better…
Opener ‘Pain Sells’ is quite upbeat in tempo – a bit of piano and a bit of a beat, with a hint of optimism bleeding in…birds tweeting, people tweeting – could “The Tweets” possibly make a comeback?
‘After the Goodbye’ recalls perhaps an old relationship, a great duet, their voices working well together – just acoustic guitar and voices, beautiful but nostalgic and maybe regretful…
The others tracks are also acoustic – ‘Numbers Game’ again sounds regretful, but the duet again is lovely – while ‘Symphonies’ adds some keyboard and more regret! And last track ‘Call of the Void’ equates sailing or swimming with self-examination – and the message ‘Don’t Jump’ is. for a ;yrically downbeat EP, a hopeful way to end.