Woman's Hour
Ephyra
Release Date: Feb 15, 2019
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Indie Electronic, Indie Pop
Record label: N/A
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Album Review: Ephyra by Woman's Hour
Very Good, Based on 4 Critics
Based on rating 4/5
It's been five years since Woman's Hour released superb debut 'Conversations', a period during which relations in the band apparently deteriorated greatly. With the release of second record 'Ephyra', Woman's Hour have announced that the band is no more - citing deteriorating mental health, fraught communication and emotions "too painful to talk about". "'Ephyra' is our eulogy", they say, "an opportunity to reflect on what happened and embrace what we achieved".
Based on rating 7.5/10
Emerging in 2014, Cumbria's Woman's Hour quickly asserted themselves as one of the most arresting and haunting bands of their generation; their debut album Conversations an off-kilter and electronically driven aphorism that felt both deeply personal and universally resonant. Esoteric and understated, it was an album hinged on introspection and twenty-something anxieties, on relationships romantic or otherwise, and ultimately, how we interact with one-another. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was also an album that posed more questions than it answered - but one especially remained on the lips of fans: just when was album number two coming? The answer, at least the one assumed by many, was never.
Based on rating 3/5
Fractured and inconsistent, this second album is still a beautiful but bittersweet farewell It was five years ago when Cumbrian trio Woman's Hour delivered the pristine atmospherics of their acclaimed debut album 'Conversations'. It was a devastating and dreamy culmination of the buzz that had been surrounding them at the time: Hype Machine named the group as 2013's sixth most-blogged about band in the UK (behind the likes of Wolf Alice, Chvrches and Haim, but ahead of The xx, Jungle and, strangely enough, Justin Timberlake). There was so much promise, but sadly, their path forward wouldn’t be so simple.
Opinion: Very Good
When Woman's Hour released their debut album 'Conversations' five years ago it seemed like the first chapter in a fascinating story, with the Kendal group matching sub-zero electronics to gorgeous melodies and lyricism that cut that little bit deeper. Except not everything went to plan. Sessions for their proposed second album dragged on, while the pressures of running a band - same as with any creative endeavour - brought their progress to a halt.
'Ephyra'
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