British singer Eaves Wilder has gone through a battle with anorexia and come out the other side. And rather than turn that struggle into something heavy, she's instead made it the subject of some of the brightest pop I've heard in ages. Her new EP, Hookey, drops on Friday on Secretly Canadian.
"I Stole Your Jumper" burns with the kind of energy that gave fuel to old hits by Letters to Cleo and Belly. The lyrical concerns here hint at fairly deep emotional matters, but Eaves is intent on making this a shiny, poppy affair, and that works. "Are You Diagnosed?", a number more directly about her anorexia fight, is still as brash and catchy as Nineties stuff from Juliana Hatfield. It's a helluva tune, and a big one too. Elsewhere, "Morning Rain" is more down-tempo, Wilder's voice echoing Bjork's a bit here, while closer "Connect the Rooms" offers up a bit of dream pop to end things. This one is melodically like early Catatonia to these ears, and Eaves Wilder's best performance on this all-too-brief EP.
This is a fun EP, even with the serious subject matter in places. Eaves Wilder's voice is favored by the production here, with the whole glossy spectacle having a real radio-friendly vibe about it. That's a good thing too as these songs are catchy and infectious. I'm eager to hear more from this singer now.
Hookey by Eaves Wilder is out on Friday via Secretly Canadian.
[Photo: Dora Paphides]