After a couple of listens, you’ll be singing along to the chorus of ‘Love Is Blind’, and swaying side to side during the verses, I can guarantee it. Why? Because Haunts are bringing us one of the most catchy singles for quite a while.
The vocals of Banks (no other name given, very mysterious) are like velvet, drawling and charismatic, and the instrumentation fits perfectly with the vocals. Also on their EP release are remixes of two other songs, ‘Black Eyed Girl’ and ‘Underground’. The former is a dirty electro romp with fantastic echoed backing vocals of ‘Black Eyed Girl’, and it sounds ever so IAMX. ‘Underground’ is a much slower effort, with a bit of a trip-hop influence, very in the style of Massive Attack. Having said that, the rapping in the verses really doesn’t seem to work, Banks should stick with the singing. Finally, there is a remix of ‘Love Is Blind’ and a demo version of it.

The beat of the remix is good, and the vocals fit well with it, but I feel like it takes away from the title track a little. The demo is much better, slightly muffled and sounding like it has been recorded in one go, with Banks doing a little introduction of the song, it’s different from the properly recorded single but still enjoyable, with some brilliant synth moments in it. The ‘Love Is Blind’ EP is definitely worth checking out, though you might find yourself skipping some tracks.

By Vanessa Banks

Rating: 7/10
Format: EP
Release date: 03/08/09
Label: Black
www.myspace.com/haunts