Wyvern Lingo EP Review Angela Macari O’Looney

This trio of talented ladies got my attention at a recent gig. Members are Caoimhe Barry – Percussion/Vocals, Saoirse Duane – Guitar/Vocals and Karen Cowley – Piano/Vocals.

Each of the band is an accomplished musician, yet together they blend really well vocally. The five tracks on their self named debut EP are exciting samples from their repertoire.

Herbert Park begins with trickling acoustic guitar and has close harmony throughout. It’s a love song with a laid back tempo. Piano lends dynamic for the second verse and the ooh refrain for the middle eight is hair on the back of the neck stuff!

Echoes involves a wonderful rippling piano intro. This number has a Soul feel to it and the girls do an interesting echo style refrain mid way through. That rippling piano riff continues between verses and is haunting, as is the melody line.

Deep Breaths has acoustic guitar only for the first verse. The girls filter their harmony beautifully here and there. It’s a laid back but memorable piece with fab chords that are all created vocally. I love the pace of this song too, as the guitar strums the accompaniment with the lyrics, which are poignant Don’t let the Rose see how deep her thorns cut me. The lead vocalist here demonstrates magnificent vocal power. Lead in some songs is done by Karen and in others Caoimhe.

Beginning with a percussion intro, Bravery has a three four tempo. Piano chords are fab and the beat alternates in places. The chorus is the most appealing feature of this number. There’s also an interesting change from major chords to minors later on in this track. And then as they return to the final chorus, they go back to the original sweeter chords.

Fools is dramatic and has a lot of stop start moments in it. It has a memorable chorus and the busy piano throughout is wonderful. The girls let go with some amazing vocal hi jinx and there’s a great vibe. You feel that they really enjoy the chops and changes and how they all get to stretch themselves here. Harmony is brilliant yet again and things wind down to a sudden stop; A great finish to a great number!

The CD comes in a very interesting parcel style cover which was designed by Caoimhe Barry, Rachel Sweeney and S.J. Carthy.

Wyvern Lingo hail from Bray and are together five years. They won the Rising Stars competition in the Dublin City Soul Festival and have played at Knockanstockan, Electric Picnic, Temple House and many other big venues. Their influences include great acts like Billie Holiday, Joni Mitchell, Eva Cassidy, Ella Fitzgerald and Fleetwood Mac. They have also played support to Juliet Turner and Pugwash and continue to blaze a trail with their harmonious soul sound.