Album Details

• Artist: Elizabeth & The Catapult
• Album: The Other Side Of Zero
• Label: Verve Forecast
• Year of Release: 2010
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: patchen on 2010-10-18

The duo of Elizabeth Ziman and Danny Molad like their pop with a touch of menace. "The Other Side of Zero" is full of jittery, catchy tunes with subtle touches of downbeat buzz, and lyrics seemingly whimsical, until you get to their chewy, biting center.

The bright jaunt of "Julian, Darling" and "You and Me" is more than matched by the dark brooding but no less melodic "Open Book" and the stunning "Thank You For Nothing." Elizabeth & The Catapult deftly employ piano and sharp guitar lines to create visceral moods, and Ziman's voice can simultaneously suggest resignation and celebration. The closing dirge, "Do Not Hang your Head," encapsulates that contradiction perfectly; it is a song that seems to suggest hope and giving up at once.

"The Other Side of Zero" uses a spoonful of sugar to help its medicine go down. Elizabeth & The Catapult create quite a rich sonic world for a duo, and their slightly askew take on love is both comforting and brutally honest, which, as for love, might be one and the same thing. Drawing on both British pop and the smoothed-down edges of boozy torch singers, Ziman and Molad earn your love as they sing of their falling in and out of it.

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