Album Review by Mark Bayross
Life must be very weird for English duo Silverman. Despite not a single song of theirs appearing in a record shop across the land, they have become a massive hit on the Internet, charting high on mp3.com, ClickMusic and Besonic. Not only that, but they won an audience poll on US portal Streamsearch and ended up being flown to LA to pick up an award (and found themselves toasted at an after show party by none other than Hugh Hefner).
Now, like the title of this record suggests, all that could change very fast. This is the first CD release from the band – now you can walk into a shop and buy Silverman’s music. The “Part 2” will undoubtedly be misleading – they have already released two albums on the Internet – ARCHANGEL and STAR – and may one day collect those songs together and release them as “Part 1”, George Lucas-style.
In the meantime, this seven-track mini-album (complete with videos, web links, etc) will more than suffice. Combining the dark, layered electronics of multi-instrumentalist (and ex-Nilon Bombers drummer) Martin Williams with the plaintive, spine-tingling vocals of the (incredibly, previously unheard) Anna Dennis, Silverman create an intoxicating blend of trip-hop and torch song, not a million miles from Massive Attack, Lamb or Portishead.
One listen to the sublime opener CTRL ALT DEL, the menacing, guitar-driven CAN I HAVE MY HEART BACK PLEASE, or the ghostly, heart-rending closer NOTHING I DO, NOTHING I SAY and you’ll wonder how long it’ll be before Silverman take their underground success overground.
