Call Me Amour - 'Call Me Amour' EP Review

Tracklist:

1. Happy Hell

2. Bloom (ft. Scott Kennedy)

3. Good Day (ft. Mikey Chapman)

4. Where's The Chemistry

5. Dreams

Fusing dark electronica and heavy riff rock, young quartet Call Me Amour follow up their 2023 debut EP 'Revolution' with their self-titled EP 'Call Me Amour', releasing on February 7th via Circular Wave.

Kicking things off is 'Happy Hell'. With an electronic intro swiftly followed by a great guitar riff which is then backed up by an intense vocal, it bursts out of the gate. It showcases the insane energy from the young group. The pre-chorus contains some solid hi-hat patterns leading into a chorus brimming with soaring vocals that play so well with the guitar and synth riffs. The pounding bridge contains yet another great guitar riff, giving way to another electronic section before the final chorus to close out the opener.

Up next is 'Bloom', which features Scott Kennedy of Bleed From Within. It's a slower, more atmospheric, darker effort, really leaning into the use of synths in the verses. Those same synths blend very well with the guitars in the chorus to provide such a rich, heavy sound. The vocal feature from the Bleed From Within front man in the breakdown provides a brilliant contrast with the main vocals, and once again shows a masterful blending of synth and guitars, almost tipping the hat to bands like Enter Shikari, which comes as no surprise considering producer George Perks was an engineer on Shikari's 2023 record 'A Kiss For The Whole World'.

Following comes 'Good Day', featuring Mikey Chapman of Mallory Knox. Unsurprisingly, the track begins with a great intro riff. This effort has an overall lighter sound than previous two tracks, but still has a ferocious energy to it. The vocals in the pre-chorus and chorus are a definite highlight. In my opinion, this is the track that highlights the production of this EP, with Perks doing a phenomenal job. The bridge of the track builds beautifully, before fading out for some brilliant harmonies in the outro.

The penultimate track comes in the form of 'Where's The Chemistry'. Once again coming right out of the gate with a fervently energetic burst of sound, the quarter then strip things back in the verse with some phenomenal drumming. Granted it is relatively simple, but it is oh so effective, and blends extremely well with the more subdued guitars to really showcase the drums and vocals. The chorus crashes in with another wall of intensity, with the vocals, at points, reminding me of Ian Kenny of Karnivool, who is an absolutely phenomenal vocalist. The bridge has another brilliant blend of electronics and synth lines underneath the guitar riffs that is executed so well thanks to the production of Perks.

To close things out we have 'Dreams', which opens purely with synths, percussion and vocals, giving a great point to build on, layering in the bass before dropping to vocals, keys and strings before the whole band comes crashing in for the chorus in an extremely effective use of dynamics. The tone of the lightly distorted guitar in the chorus is phenomenal, leading into an absolutely massive sounding extended, which yet again is dialled back and fairly simple, however it doesn't need to be anything else, especially when the screamed vocals burst in. It provides a great finish to the EP, wrapping things up very tidily with one final stretch of that same energy we've seen throughout this release.

Considering 'Call Me Amour' is only the band's second EP, I am extremely impressed. Their energy and passion are absolutely infectious throughout the release, and you can tell that Call Me Amour are going to be a presence to be reckoned with, and can only go up from here as their career kicks off.