Meet Coasters: a fresh indie duo straight outta Cape Town whose lilting, lo-fi synth melodies and emotionally fraught lyricism is setting them apart already. Their debut EP, Heartbreak Looks Good On You is a fleeting four-track introduction that might just leave you wanting more.
Hinged on heartbreak, Katarina Staines and Luke Verrezen explore the multi-layered experience that it is, through a gauzy synth lens. Electro-pop strains waft through, bolstered by the occasional psych rock injection, while Staines strings out a tale of poetic heartache.
They solidify their sound within minutes and stick to it with a sort of polished indie flair. Opener “Salt” alludes to the sting of salt in wounds as she examines the emotional cuts left behind after a gruelling romantic decision (“The weight of it all brings me to my knees”). Elements of early Alice Phoebe Lou surface within Staines’ lilting vocal variances, and the soothing melodics.
“Mild” keeps the ruminations on love lost sharp and cutting, honing right in on the grittier moments of one’s own psyche. The languid balladry of “Tell Me Again” is wrapped up in a tangle of thoughts and feelings gradually unspooled, while “Honey” closes things out with jangling synths as the lyrics fight their way out from a mess of mixed signals – and Coasters leap onto the scene with a vibrancy that’s hard to miss.
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Feature pic supplied by artist
