Hailing from Chicago, Working Girl have been experimenting with their craft since 2013. Sailing West, out on Continental Baths next week, is their debut EP.
Sailing West opens with the title track and it sets much of the tone for the EP. Cue dream pop mixed with psychedelic beats and hazy R&B. The accompanying press sheet references everyone from Prince through Clams Casino via the guitar work of the Smashing Pumpkins and you can hear hints of various bands and genres in here. Much like Animal Collective manage to smash together massively eclectic sounds to create something entirely new, this EP manages to reference lots but feel completely distinct.
The falsetto vocal hooks of Naomi and Aqua Neue certainly fit into the current trend for emotionally exposed and experimentally produced R&B - the latter even manages to sound like a cross between How To Dress Well and Autre Ne Veut. The overall sonic landscape here is far less constrained however, full of reverb, fuzzy melodies and freestyled guitar solos that pan through the listeners head.
At 14-minutes Sailing West is a short but impressive EP - four short songs and an instrumental interlude are just enough to leave me impressed and just a little desperate for more.
Sailing West is out on Monday through Continental Baths, check out the title track on YouTube below: