SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: AYRIA – VICIOUS WORLD

AYRIA
VICIOUS WORLD
ARTOFFACT RECORDS

Jennifer Parkin has been releasing music under the Ayria moniker since 2003 (Debris was Ayria’s debut album). Although she is the driving force behind the project, over the years she has had a number of guests to help her produce her high energy, intelligent and infectious music. Vicious World, the most recent release, is a stopgap EP, to bridge between albums. Parkin has come up with a great set of music that one can dance to but also listen.

Vicious World is hard hitting electronic dance music. Lyrically, it is on the dark side, and yet the beats and melodies can’t help but make you move your body and feel alive. But that doesn’t mean there are a few curve balls throughout the six-track EP. For example, she does an excellent cover of Madonna’s “Burning Up,” which brings an edge to it that is missing from Madonna’s original. There are also a couple of slower numbers. Not ballads, but slower dance songs, such as “Long Gone,” a deeply personal and melancholy track that is the highlight of the EP. There is also the love song “Antihero,” which has a burning groove that suits the lyrics of the song.

Vicious World is not a vicious EP. While the songs have a darker edge, it is not depressing and foreboding. Actually, it is full of strong melodies that are well sung and played. The driving beat moves throughout the music and in the end Vicious World becomes an all too short excursion into personal EDM. Parkin and company have produced a strong electronic EP that seems like it is leading to something rather exciting from Ayria. Until then, there is a great deal to enjoy with Vicious World.

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