What To Wear
Miss Kittin
25:00 min • wSPhere • June 24, 2013
Andrew Darley reviews
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This EP comes riding on the back of Miss Kittin’s latest double-album, Calling From The Stars. The album explores the two veins that have run through Kittin’s career and music for nearly twenty years: assertive electronic pop and experimental ambient techno. ‘What To Wear’ comes from the first disc of the album and finds the singer musing over what she is going to dress herself in for the night; whether it be clothes, style or an emotion. The song is not simply about getting ready to take on the night. On closer listen, the lyrics speak of the insecurities and self-depreciation people experience (“Your ugly face, your pretty face”) and how one can use fashion to mask or alter these feelings. It’s sung from the perspective of a someone directly questioning their own identity: “Who are you? Show me your face”. Humorously, Caroline Hervé admits that she switches to her native tongue halfway because “I was too lazy to write a second verse so I translated it into French for a change!”. Whether it’s idle or not, the end result is pretty effective, bringing an almost seductive dynamic to the song.
The EP also contains two remixes and a new song entitled ‘Bloomy Sunday’. The Martin Landsky of the title song spreads the song out for 8 minutes and bolsters it up with more beats, ready for the dancefloor. The second rework is of another album track ‘See You’, taking the original song which repeats the refrain “I don’t want to see you” and turns it into a house-inspired dance number. The EP ends with a sparse ballad in which Hervé combines minimal techno with emotive lyrics of reaching a place with “no shadow all around us”.
What To Wear EP is just a small taste of where Miss Kittin is right now in terms of her sound and the confidence she has reached in her career. In short, if you like what you hear on this, be sure to pick up the Calling From The Stars album, which holds more jolts of her introspective electronica. You won’t be disappointed.
