SATU is the project of Sinead Westwood, who makes self-described “lovestruck blossom pop.” Her latest EP, Growing Up, is the product of several years work, and opening slots for the likes of Oneohtrix Point Never, Soccer Mommy and Aristophanes, which should give you some idea of the realms it strays into.
Opener ‘Hometown’ fuses the ethereal DIY bedroom pop of Spartan Jet-Plex with 80s inflected romantic pop, equal parts vulnerable and infectious. Westwood’s vocals ache with feeling on the title track, which opens with icy xylophone and dramatic spacious vocals, before expanding with beats and electronic atmospherics—like a lonely ghost with a fondness for pop music, serenading you through the attic floorboards. Like much of the album it’s undeniably pretty and catchy, but something in the emotion at its heart cuts to the bone, gauzy shadows adding a strange, gothic, air and making sure things don’t get too shallow or saccharine.
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In comparison, ‘Alarm’ sounds slick and streamlined, although it’s lyrics reveal a hidden turbulence, while ‘Nightmaring’ turns the weird dial up a few notches, a kind of witchy hip-hop-pop track, the samples and vocal effects forgoing funkiness in favour of a macabre suggestiveness. Closing track ‘Moonlight’ has a nighttime vibe, Westwood’s vocals swirling like smoke across a song that’s at once sweetly romantic and somewhat supernatural, referencing both sweet candy and rose quartz, all bathed in the light of a full moon.
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You can get Growing Up now from the SATU Bandcamp page. Also check out SATU’s art if you’re interested!
