''EP'' is the debut solo release by American singer

Beth Ditto Mary Beth Patterson (born February 19, 1981), known by her stage name Beth Ditto, is an American singer and songwriter most notable for her work with the indie rock band Gossip. Her voice has been compared to Etta James, Janis Joplin and Tin ...

. Released on January 10, 2011, through

Deconstruction Records Deconstruction Records is a British record label founded in 1987 by Pete Hadfield and Keith Blackhurst, together with Mike Pickering of M People. According to ''DJ Magazine'' it is "best remembered for marrying underground credibility and diver ...

, the EP was produced by James Ford and Jas Shaw of

Simian Mobile Disco Simian Mobile Disco are an English electronic music duo and production team, formed in 2003 by James Ford and Jas Shaw of the band Simian. Musically, they are known for their analogue production. Ford is also known for his production work. ...

Composition

The EP features an

electropop Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a re ...

and

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

sound. According to

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, the EP "takes its cue from the glossy dancefloors of the early

Chicago house Chicago house refers to house music produced during the mid to late 1980s within Chicago. The term is generally used to refer to the first ever house music productions, which were by Chicago-based artists in the 1980s. History and origins Disco ...

scene rather than the

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate choice. The ...

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

of the '80s." AllMusic also reported that the track "I Wrote the Book" features "squelchy analog synths and retro house beats and described the track "Do You Need Someone" as "an atmospheric slice of new wave

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

." ''

NOW Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Now ...

'' thought that the EP's "restrained approach perfectly fits with Simian Mobile Disco's dark, minimal groove contributions, which recall 80s

synth pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

but with fatter, modern bass lines."

Critical reception

The EP generally received positive reviews. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 80, based on seven reviews, indicating "generally positive reviews". AllMusic critic Jon O'Brien wrote: "If this is the precursor to a full-blown album, then Ditto couldn't have whetted the appetite any more." ''NOW''s Kevin Ritchie described the EP as "a beautiful, sophisticated effort that gets richer with each listen" and "a welcome reprieve from most of today's club-oriented

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...

, which too often has all the subtly of a chainsaw to the brain."

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

critic Huw Jones stated: "Despite wearing the crown of music’s most feral female talent, Ditto excels with EP because of her straightforward singing. She is near pitch-perfect with every turn, and seems to relish the opportunity to flex her vocal cords in this electronic environment."

Sputnikmusic Sputnikmusic is an American music community website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites. The format of the website is unusual in that it includes both professional and amateur c ...

's emeritus critic Conrad Tao thought that "for its obvious melodic strengths, EP is a tease, slowly removing one layer at a time until its heart is revealed." Andy Gill of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' was rather mixed in his assessment of the EP, stating: "Though inspired by

Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a model, singer and actress. Born in Jamaica, she and her family moved to Syracuse, New York, when she was a teenager. Jones began her modelling career in New York state, then in Paris, working for ...

's new-wave disco torch-songs, the results are markedly dissimilar: Ditto's far too engaged a singer to emulate Jones's aloof cool."

Track listing

# "

I Wrote the Book "I Wrote the Book" is a song performed by American recording artist Beth Ditto. Produced by James Ford and Jas Shaw of Simian Mobile Disco. The song was released in March 2011 as the first single from the ''Beth Ditto EP'' on Deconstruction Recor ...

" – 3:24 # "Good Night Good Morning" – 3:54 # "Open Heart Surgery" – 4:30 # "Do You Need Someone" – 3:36

Charts

References

External links

*{{Discogs master, 315952, type=album 2011 EPs Beth Ditto albums