Sunday Star Times
Out from under the radar - Feature - 11th Sept 2011
"Cynics, grumps, metal fans and punks will hate this Wellington trio's debut EP Like A Light for its cuteness: the plinky-plink glockenspiels and mournful cello, the plangent piano, the love-sick first-year varsity student lyrics, the free-floating female harmonies and the blessed absence of a drummer dutifully smacking out the beats. This is fragile folk-pop for delicate souls, and primarily, one imagines, for girls, though my masculinity nonetheless feels undiminished as I whistle along to the weightless arpeggios of opening track "Blow My Mind"."
"Comrades, let us salute Kate Uhe, Sarah Smythe and Catherine Henehan for their determination to be soft, sensitive and calm in a world that values brashness and noise." by Grant Smithies
"Cynics, grumps, metal fans and punks will hate this Wellington trio's debut EP Like A Light for its cuteness: the plinky-plink glockenspiels and mournful cello, the plangent piano, the love-sick first-year varsity student lyrics, the free-floating female harmonies and the blessed absence of a drummer dutifully smacking out the beats. This is fragile folk-pop for delicate souls, and primarily, one imagines, for girls, though my masculinity nonetheless feels undiminished as I whistle along to the weightless arpeggios of opening track "Blow My Mind"."
"Comrades, let us salute Kate Uhe, Sarah Smythe and Catherine Henehan for their determination to be soft, sensitive and calm in a world that values brashness and noise." by Grant Smithies
Under The Radar
LIKE A LIGHT EP - 8/10 - 26th April 2011
"City Oh Sigh’s debut EP is excellent. Simple but evocative melodies, an expert use of the cello and rhodes in particular, and gorgeous harmonies all make this a particularly enjoyable listen. It’s undeniably earnest, and for those after a little bite might struggle to find it here – but for those who are happy with good music, the Like a Light EP is more than worth its price." "Like a Light EP is a brief little calling card for City Oh Sigh, but one can only hope on the basis of the music contained, that it leads to further things." By Brannavan Gnanalingam
"City Oh Sigh’s debut EP is excellent. Simple but evocative melodies, an expert use of the cello and rhodes in particular, and gorgeous harmonies all make this a particularly enjoyable listen. It’s undeniably earnest, and for those after a little bite might struggle to find it here – but for those who are happy with good music, the Like a Light EP is more than worth its price." "Like a Light EP is a brief little calling card for City Oh Sigh, but one can only hope on the basis of the music contained, that it leads to further things." By Brannavan Gnanalingam
Cheese On Toast
LIKE A LIGHT EP, REVIEWED - 12th April 2011
Like a Light is wrong.
But, let’s be honest, “Like a Gorgeous, Lush, Warm But Dewy Garden With Beautiful Bird Song Chirping Lightly in Natural Rhythm With the Sound of a Babbling Brook on a Spring Morning Before 8am; The Fragrance of Early Blooming Flowers and a Freshly Cut Lawn Intertwined to Smell So Good You Can Literally Hear It and You Almost Ache Because It’s So Fucking Beautiful. As Beautiful As A First Kiss. The Kind of Beauty That Makes Grown Men Cry” is a really long and somewhat ridiculous title for a six track EP. And I imagine that this trio probably have a little more decorum and modesty than to pick that for a title. So, upon reflection, perhaps the more tempered, “Like A Light” is probably a good name for the EP. Also, it’s probably a good thing that I am not in charge of naming EPs. At least not for City oh Sigh.
Captured within these songs is a wonderful combination and juxtaposition between nobility, wisdom and innocence. In a fairy tale or parable with a young princess who is faced with a quandary of ethics she elegantly makes a salient observation and creates the most bittersweet, altruistic solution from which children and adults alike can take a lesson. The fairy tale would be soundtracked by this EP. - review by Andrew Tidball
Like a Light is wrong.
But, let’s be honest, “Like a Gorgeous, Lush, Warm But Dewy Garden With Beautiful Bird Song Chirping Lightly in Natural Rhythm With the Sound of a Babbling Brook on a Spring Morning Before 8am; The Fragrance of Early Blooming Flowers and a Freshly Cut Lawn Intertwined to Smell So Good You Can Literally Hear It and You Almost Ache Because It’s So Fucking Beautiful. As Beautiful As A First Kiss. The Kind of Beauty That Makes Grown Men Cry” is a really long and somewhat ridiculous title for a six track EP. And I imagine that this trio probably have a little more decorum and modesty than to pick that for a title. So, upon reflection, perhaps the more tempered, “Like A Light” is probably a good name for the EP. Also, it’s probably a good thing that I am not in charge of naming EPs. At least not for City oh Sigh.
Captured within these songs is a wonderful combination and juxtaposition between nobility, wisdom and innocence. In a fairy tale or parable with a young princess who is faced with a quandary of ethics she elegantly makes a salient observation and creates the most bittersweet, altruistic solution from which children and adults alike can take a lesson. The fairy tale would be soundtracked by this EP. - review by Andrew Tidball
Fishhead
LIKE A LIGHT EP, REVIEWED
"For the last couple of years, Wellington trio City Oh Sigh has been quietly carving out a low-key reputation for playing some of the most artistically credible folk/pop songs to emerge from the capital in a very long time.
Centred around lead singer/songwriter and cellist Kate Uhe’s emotionally spot-on tales of love lost, mornings spent hungover beneath the sheets and days long gone, City Oh Sigh’s songs hang delicately in a splendid faerie-like sound world. Almost entirely drum and percussion free, Uhe’s cello and vocal parts are gracefully supported by delicate trickling melody lines from keyboardist Sarah Smythe and third member Catherine Henehan’s decidedly coastal trumpet work, shimmering guitar parts and breathless backing vocals."
"On Like A Light – their debut EP release – City Oh Sigh codifies several years of live performance and practise into a succinct, emotionally-charged five-song cycle."
"Like A Light is a masterful debut. For lovers of folk/pop music, this is an essential release."
Reviewed by Martyn Pepperell
"For the last couple of years, Wellington trio City Oh Sigh has been quietly carving out a low-key reputation for playing some of the most artistically credible folk/pop songs to emerge from the capital in a very long time.
Centred around lead singer/songwriter and cellist Kate Uhe’s emotionally spot-on tales of love lost, mornings spent hungover beneath the sheets and days long gone, City Oh Sigh’s songs hang delicately in a splendid faerie-like sound world. Almost entirely drum and percussion free, Uhe’s cello and vocal parts are gracefully supported by delicate trickling melody lines from keyboardist Sarah Smythe and third member Catherine Henehan’s decidedly coastal trumpet work, shimmering guitar parts and breathless backing vocals."
"On Like A Light – their debut EP release – City Oh Sigh codifies several years of live performance and practise into a succinct, emotionally-charged five-song cycle."
"Like A Light is a masterful debut. For lovers of folk/pop music, this is an essential release."
Reviewed by Martyn Pepperell
