Bereket Window is the aural equivalent of a thrift store, a hodgepodge of sounds and styles — some tattered and worn, others like new — that somehow end up sharing the same space. And like the store’s quirky cashier, Honeychild Coleman uses her limber vocals to sell each song, convincing you to buy in to her particular brand of edgy electro pop-rock. Each track is a tchotchke all its own, and more often than not, you leave Coleman’s musical shop with something you’re not sure you even needed, but that you nonetheless like having around.
One minute, the hearty a cappella harmonies in her rendering of Irish folk song “Comin’ Thro’ The Rye” have you time traveling to the days of hoedowns and horse and carriages. The next, her underwater warbling on “Like Paris” has you floating on a psych-rock wave that would probably sound even better if you were in a drug-induced haze. She even forgoes lyrics and vocals and lets the music do the talking on “Spaghetti Eastern,” an instrumental that fuses twangy, Western melodies with subtle Asian influences and impels you to imagine a gun duel in the middle of some dusty ghost town. While these shifts in sound would seem random, even ridiculous for some artists, Coleman makes it sound organic, wielding an inherent idiosyncrasy that’s innovative and interesting.
Mostly self-produced, Bereket gives Coleman a chance to shape her sound around her unique style, an opportunity she takes full advantage of. That style is nothing if not versatile, and she thoughtfully uses her vocals to supply what each songs demand. Gentle crooning, carefree wailing, punkish snarling, husky alto cadences, floaty falsettos — Coleman’s voice is downright schizophrenic, like an assortment of singers live in her throat.
Though no song sounds the same, there’s an underlying early-nineties, indie alt-rock vibe to the recording that gives it a “feels familiar”, and the sense of nostalgia that that vibe creates goes a long way toward helping the music go down that much easier. The grungy electric guitars, blurry boom bap, unconventional melodies, and raw, realistic lyrics of tracks like “Youths Eternal” and “Echelon” randomly bogart your brain like good pop songs should, a sure sign that Coleman knows how to create something catchy without catering to convention. Lo-fi but never low-brow, the eight-track EP serves up voice, variety, and a pop appeal that’s subtle, surprising, and ultimately satisfying. Bereket is a cool example of how to make music that’s authentic, avant-garde and accessible.
published on Okayplayer.com