"Designed For Damage", as one of the more emotive tracks from "Dead Waves", has always seemed destined for individual release. Marrying wispy vocals with sky-scraping synths and a driving electronic beat, W&H even went as far as to mention it in the same breath as that behemoth of behemoths, U2. With no discernable differences between the album and EP versions, attention thus turns to its accompaniments. And with an additional three non-remix tracks, the plate initially appears a well-garnished affair.
Closer inspection reveals however that "The Lost Blood" has already appeared in an early form on the "Science For The Living" Japanese-only release. A track that was surprisingly left off the band's European full-length debut, particularly considering the album's more overt electronic ambiance, "The Lost Blood" follows a similar electroscape path that the band gravitated towards in the time between their debut release back in 2006 and their 2010 European debut. The crisp industrial beat is the key here, melding noises you could imagine coming from a futuristic robot assembly line with airy melodies that float invitingly over the top. Likewise "Memories", which has also previously appeared, again in a Japan-only release, this time on a tour EP that came out in 2009. Although a studied effort, mixing off-kilter percussion, hypnotic looped lyrics and all-enveloping synths, the sound quality appears to have suffered on the flight over and the whole thing feels like its been draped in cotton wool when compared to the tour release version.
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"I'll Follow Dreams For You", located on the more ethereal, plaintive end of the Kyte musical spectrum, is lovely though. A gentle b-side, displaying a lesser intensity compared to the "Dead Waves" repertoire, the track mixes cryptically poetic lyrics ("I will/I'll follow dreams/for you/and watch them glow") and soft, twinkling glockenspiel-like airs. Similar in pace to "Lights Outside Here" (from their 2008 "Two Sparks, Two Stars" EP), it shows that Kyte can just as easily do elegantly elegiac, even if that other e-word, epic, has been getting more game-time recently.
Hardcore fans may whine over the lack of truly new material, but given the Japan-only nature of the previous incarnations, most will find enough originality in this four track effort. A bit less immediate than "Dead Waves", the EP sees Kyte indulge their penchant for measured build-ups that was reined in a little for their European full-length debut. It's unlikely to win the band any new fans - the best place to start is still "Dead Waves" or, failing that, their self-titled debut - but it's worthy of a listen if you've ever enjoyed anything Kyte have produced before.
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