Review: MARY - Analyze Paralyze EP

In a move perfectly timed with the arrival of this season’s dreary weather, Toronto based former Vancouverites, MARY have just released their new Analyze Paralyze EP.  With production from Vancouver’s Jason Corbett at Jacknife Sound, the duo of Kuba Rygal and Michael Peterson have crafted a beautifully textured and quite dramatic statement.

Opener “Back” kicks the proceedings off in an appropriately moody fashion. Pulsing kick drum and chiming guitar set up the song in an almost Beach House-esque manner until the throbbing, sinister bass makes an appearance and that coupled with some icy synth work put us immediately in Pornography era Cure territory. This influence continues into the second track, the plaintive “What Will Be”.  One of the wonderful things that MARY manages to do here is to continually build the song as it goes on but does so without sacrificing any emotion. Even when the track hits harder in it’s second half it does so with an honesty and earnestness that feels earned and not reliant on any studio trickery. “Daylight” further displays this approach. Bursting through the speakers with a double time immediacy, the arrangement doesn’t contradict the passionate intent of the music.  “Execution” closes the EP out on a mournful note. The space that is initially kept open in between the drums and the guitars, as the song begins, ends up becoming filled with a tangible melancholy by it’s conclusion that a lesser act would’ve stuffed with more production. It’s a nice move as the minimalism of the track allows the listener in to explore the nuance and care the band has conceded to in lieu of a more aggressive tact.

It may only be four songs long but the level of thoughtfulness and cohesion on display here is something that should be applauded in this era of one offs and it’s one I am hoping to hear continuing as MARY endures and grows. For now, I have a new set of songs to mope to and this will always make me, somewhat, happy.