Uncharted Review by Miles Buckingham

National Radio Interview/Review

http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/national/nrmtalk/enright_house
Click on link to stream interview

Undertheradar.co.nz

And the surge from Christchurch begins… This is a wonderful album from 4 piece Enright House who have been quietly making moves over the last year and a bit to be regarded as a “…hey , have you heard that new band from Christchurch..”.

Opener Scattering the Sun Like Gunshot reveals what this band are all about. Lush flowing arrangements scattered with intensity but also relaxed structure.

There are overtones of familiar influences here which groups the band loosely with other NZ legends Jakob, HDU, Bailterspace, Karetta. Even the hint of previous CHCH group Parsec.

It’s a mostly instrumental album but when the vocals do present themselves they do so like a layered instrument creating an even deeper sound.

It’s wonderful. Buy it now and see them live.

8.3/10

VICE

http://www.viceland.com/int/v14n10/htdocs/records.php?country=au

Let’s be honest, how hard is it to become a “successful” kiwi band within our own borders? Pretty. Fucking. Easy. If you’ve managed to form a band and play the three venues that Auckland has and then do a nationwide pub tour you’ve pretty much hit the glass ceiling. I like those people that you’ve hardly heard of and that will never play fashion week parties or be show-ponies for Karen Walker’s latest range of $1,200 underpants. That, and the fact that this album is pretty choice, aye bro.

7/10

Real Groove by Joe Nunweek

A fine attention to detail that elevates this well beyond similar would-be merchants of the epic..

4 STARS

The Critic Review by Simon Wallace

http://www.critic.co.nz/about/reviews/392?review_type_id=2

Having spent the last week walking around minus contact lenses, I’ve appreciated what a beautiful thing the out-of-focus world is. To begin with, living in a haze was frustrating and confusing. Now I’ve grown to love it: everything has become deeply colourful and surprisingly personalised; being unaware and somewhat out of control has never been so entertaining. Form appears out of the blur, often to my complete surprise and delight. Not knowing what things are from afar, I just guess and steep myself in the delusion.
The Enright House came into my life at just the right time.

Mark Roberts has laid himself bare on this album, though just out of sight, within a murky bubble. Songs appear where you least expect, and are punctuated by hushed tones, which he sings to himself, more than to any expected crowd. The album screams with quiet frustrations, and though it seems like Roberts will unleash a tirade at any point, he restrains himself, and this tense quiescence is so much louder as a result.

He seems aware of his situation on songs such as ‘Up’, as he says he’s “not dreaming / things are spinning incessantly out of control,” with vocals surrounded by a flurry of sequenced drums and broken synth tones. But despite sounding frustrated at being so lost, Roberts never tries to seek some escape. When it seems like there will be some clarity and resolution, Enright House swallows itself up again.

The ideal soundtrack for people to break up, give up, and fall apart to.

Cheeseontoast.co.nz

http://www.cheeseontoast.co.nz/reviews.htm

The other day, just as we were about to close up the shop, in walks this mysterious man carrying a package, neatly wrapped in waxy brown paper. “What’s in the package?” I ask. “Why, it’s some of the most innovative and beautiful music to emerge from these dark lands in many moons,” replied the stranger. “You surely must be referring to the Enright House’s new album, for I have just listened to that, and I must tell you I was taken aback by the melding of live and electronic instruments, morosely whispered vocals and all round eerie beauty of it all. Like Amusement Parks on Fire meets a gothic Mogwai, with a hint of glitchy click stuff. Oh yes, an impressive release indeed…” The man turned out to be a werewolf. The end

Dominion Post Review

Click on image to read

Hits in the car

http://stytzer.blogspot.com/2007/11/junior-bloomsday-at-enright-house.html

Darkwave = MC Squared was the name of a track received from New Zeeland quartet The Enright House and with a title like that you’ve already been given some indication of what to expect from the band’s new album A Maze and Amazement. But nonetheless I’ve been listening to the albums a few times and it is quite dark and complicated (not in an Albert Einstein kind of way) with references to bands like Sigur Ros, Mogwai etc. Labelled by the band itself as “a rather uneasy mixture of indie-pop, post-rock and electronica”, which is a much better expression than I ever could come up with! The album as a whole might be a little too complex for my taste, but if you’re a fan of the aforementioned bands and the post-rock genre, you should seriously consider giving The Enright House a listen!