The Widest Smiling Faces evolves. ‘Me and My Ribcage’ is an improvement upon their
last EP ‘Rituals’. I adored that previous release. ‘Me and My Ribcage’ improves
on that through small steps, tiny tweaks which singularly are unnoticed. When
each improvement is brought together though the listener gets the sense of a
project moving forward, getting more comfortable and changing for the better.
I like
unusual singers. Aviv Cohn definitely counts as one. On ‘Me and My Ribcage’ he
manages to maintain that otherworldly charm. Unlike ‘Rituals’ though he sounds
more confident in his abilities and the singing feels warmer, less detached,
and a bit more revealing. This move works nicely with the instrumentation
itself, which hasn’t changed dramatically from the original EP. Now the songs
have a slightly more intimate sound to them.
A few
songs exemplify this perfectly. ‘The little death’ shows off the changes from
the EP. Now the melodies are stronger, better able to ingrain themselves in
your mind. Before they weren’t bad, but on this particular song, they are the
right mix of smart and catchy. ‘When it rained’ another one of the longer songs
has multiple sections, something Aviv didn’t have the time for before on his
far shorter EP. In fact, even within the first minute and a half of this track
things are arranged neatly. More time means more space to sprawl out, to
explore specific themes Aviv hadn’t been able to deal with before.
Overall
though, the feelings are the same on this album. But the execution is sharper.
It is the sound of a young artist improving at his craft. I’m overjoyed that it
didn’t even take that long. I’m excited to see where he’ll go next.
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