Album Review: Kady OBrien – Silver Lines & Paper Cuts

Kady OBrien has released her EP, Silver Lines & Paper Cuts today after a tour throughout the mid-west in the spring. The EP features four songs and shows that there is potential when OBrien plays to her acoustic strengths.

The EP opens with ‘Vapor,’ a track that bends genres and struggles to find its footing. On ‘Vapor,’ OBrien mixes her acoustic sound with brief electro-pop on the chorus with mixed results.’Vapor’ sounds at times like two songs intertwined. The rest of the EP is much more acoustic than pop, and OBrien’s voice is more suited to this style of music, anyway.

A jazzed up production on ‘In A Pickle’ has OBrien giving off subtle Adele vibes. The song’s got a catchy chorus with an interesting analogy comparing love’s grip to that of a jar of pickles. It’s this type of music that suits OBrien best, featuring a more traditional approach to its production and letting her clever lyrics shine.

‘Under the Influence’ is equally inventive as ‘In A Pickle’ as OBrien tells her lover they won’t run her over and take advantage of her. It’s a wonderfully relatable track, thanks in part to its simplicity. It’s more formulaic than OBrien’s other songs, but hey — there’s a formula for a reason.

Silver Lines & Papercuts draws to a close with ‘Maya’s Song.’ There’s little substance in the EP’s closer, with the line “I hear you crying,” repeated to a point that it brings the song down. It’s a shame, because when there is more thought given to the lyrics in  ‘Maya’s Song,’ there is creativity. For example: “Reading your mind, I’d need a Master’s Degree.”

With Silver Lines & Papercuts, Kady OBrien introduces herself as an artist with potential. The tone  of her voice can instantly set the mood for a beautifully inviting acoustic number. While ‘Vapor’ and ‘Maya’s Song’ are both missing a thing or two to make them stand out, there’s promise in tracks like ‘In A Pickle’ and ‘Under The Influence’ because they show that when OBrien gets all the parts of a song in the right order, she’s got gems on her hands.

For more on Kady OBrien, visit her on Facebook and Instagram.