A taste of ‘Utopia’ – Otago Daily Times

"I recorded it in Auckland with Jonathan Pearce at the end of December 2014, so Ive been sitting on it quite a while," former Dunedin student Christopher Bull says of his EP on a whirlwind visit from the United Kingdom.

"I basically recorded it, then moved out of the country. I planned to release it in London, but I didnt quite plan on how hard London was."

Called The Utopia EP, the songs cover the slightly arrogant struggles of a middle-class 20-something in a big city. Theyre actually having loads of fun, but they kind of see it as a facade.

"The thing that Im almost more shocked by is how things havent really changed, not that I necessarily thought they would get better," Bull says, looking back at the material.

"My version of dissociation was just watching Auckland house prices go insane, and the whole city just fall into this rapture led on by the New Zealand Herald and its calling of the house prices like a horse race, which was just surreal.

"Its 2017 and its still happening and now its taking Wellington too. I wasnt prophetic, but whatever I was writing about hasnt changed at all and if anything, has gotten worse."

The opener is my personal favourite. Called Pile it all on (a toast to the optimists), it is built on a gorgeously soaring and deeply resonant electric guitar that you can feel in your bones and that makes me think of devastating Blur heartbreaker No Distance Left to Run.

As Bull sings of having no money, aspirations to burn, and wondering if he can make it through student loans, it comes across like a plaintive funeral march that just happens to be really, really beautiful.

Later, things turn more abstract and experimental. Utopia, written in a fit of anger after watching John Pilgers film of the same name (and where the EP also gets its title from), is rousing and sad with its psychedelic vocals and swirling distortion.

"Living in London right now is both fascinating and terrifying," Bull says preparing for his return.

"In the two years that weve been there, a lot of what we thought we knew to be true about the world has been upended in the Brexit vote and Trumps election.

"Its especially telling as the divide between winning cities and the rest of the world now feels so stark. London may as well be a different country in the UK. Its providing a rich vein of both anxiety and material, watching in real time as men like Nigel Farage, Donald Trump and Steve Bannon actively try and take apart a lot of things that we took for granted in the world.

"Its also an inspiration for action though; we went to a demonstration against the travel ban on a Monday after work which attracted 30,000 people."

New York pop songwriting sensation Greta Kline, aka Frankie Cosmos, is visiting Dunedin next week, in what is sure to be one of the years most anticipated indie rock shows.

Utilising the spartan, wooden beauty of a band like Beat Happening, and the deceptively simply melodies of the likes of Kimya Dawson, Kline and her band deftly explores life, love, and death in earnest and poetic personal detail.

With dozens of Bandcamp demo releases, and two critically acclaimed albums to her name, she is one of the leading lights of the US indie scene, and it is fantastic to see her visiting Dunedin, especially in the post Chicks Hotel era!

- Sam Valentine

Christopher Bulls The Utopia EP is available now for pay as you like from Bandcamp. christopherbull.bandcamp.com/album/the-utopia-ep

Frankie Cosmos, Wednesday, March 8, at Maori Hill Coronation Hall, 8pm. Tickets $30 plus booking fee, presales available from undertheradar.co.nz

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A taste of 'Utopia' - Otago Daily Times