In 15 short minutes ‘Holding a Flame’, Womb‘s new EP (and their first Flying Nun), manages to take us on a journey. A journey somewhere damp, somewhere green, an icy breeze tearing shreds off us… Inhale deeply, a fresh, healing, healthy breath.

Now as the groups’ name suggests (Womb, in case you’ve forgotten already) we end up in a safe place, an embrace where perhaps we weep together cathartically, through smiles. 

There’s a lot to unpack in such a neat little package; three songs and one short musical invitation, Intro. The Pōneke trio state that they had every intention of releasing a full-length release, but these three siblings Charlotte Forrester, Haz Forrester, and Georgette Brown, have created a movement in four short acts. An eagerly awaited tasting platter, after dropping the similarly mysterious and wistful singles Used to Be and Dust to Dust during 2020. 

The second track, Mercury, has the potential to be a defining song of a generation. In the way that Imogen Heap is synonymous with The O.C., Mercury could easily slide onto Shortland Street (are you listening TVNZ!?) as part of a heartbreaking, gut-wrenching, death scene; perhaps Chris Warner slipping away from us? It’s a cathartic mystery.

The whole EP is a cathartic mystery. Nestled between ethereal vocals, layers of synthesiser and a beautifully crisp snare drum, the group alongside collaborator Bevan Smith have produced a gem. 

Love draws us deep into this journey, and at times seems to exist on an isle, mossy and misty, and full of a certain sort of longing. This longing reaches its pinnacle on Holding A Flame. It becomes more urgent, and more present through the repetition of the line “I felt alive with you”.

The same sense of feeling alive, as the cold air hits your lung and ears. The same sense of feeling alive as mist sticking to your face. The same sense of feeling alive that comes with fulfilling a yearning, and having that little cry as you cling to your rock. But in their own words; turning “discordant feelings into a unified sound”. Unified indeed.