Atanaria
Call Me Amour’s self-titled EP is less a bold statement of intent and more a resigned shrug of creative stagnation. Where their debut EP Revolution hinted at promise, this follow-up largely squanders any forward momentum, delivering a collection of Britrock-by-numbers tracks that feel more like relics from a bygone era than an evolution of their sound.
The most frustrating aspect is the lack of risk-taking. While Revolution at least played with dark electro-rock elements to give Call Me Amour a semblance of identity, those flourishes have mostly been stripped away here, leaving a framework that’s not just familiar but disappointingly dated. The result is an EP that could comfortably slot into early-2010s alt-rock playlists without turning heads, but in today’s scene, it struggles to justify its existence.
There are moments where potential briefly flickers—Bloom stands out, primarily thanks to Bleed From Within’s Scott Kennedy injecting some much-needed dynamism. Its breakdown hints at a version of Call Me Amour that could still push for something fresh and exciting. But then comes Good Day, which not only leans into 2013-era Mallory Knox tropes but even hands over vocal duties to former Mallory Knox frontman Mikey Chapman, leaving Harry Radford as little more than a bystander.
Elsewhere, Where’s The Chemistry offers an out-of-nowhere Helen Keller reference as its only notable moment, and Happy Hell sees Radford’s vocals wavering between confident and unpolished, exposing the band’s inconsistency. Throughout, the EP never fully commits to its own aesthetic, instead feeling like a patchwork of alt-rock familiarity that fails to inspire.
Ultimately, Call Me Amour feels like a step sideways at best, and backwards at worst. If the band hopes to avoid fading into irrelevance, they’ll need to rediscover the ambition and edge that made Revolution worth paying attention to. As it stands, this EP is a forgettable entry in a genre that’s already struggling to stay fresh.
