Dope Lemon: Smooth Big Cat
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Dope Lemon: Smooth Big Cat

Smooth – absolutely. Big – definitely. Cat – well it definitely has slinky feline qualities.

The follow up to Dope Lemons 2016 ‘Honey Bones’ is an album of consistency, subtlety, and cathartic energies. Easing in with the repetitive single, ‘Hey You’, Dope Lemon fuse Siberian grooves with Angus Stones soft-spoken vocals to create a therapeutic atmosphere that remains throughout the album’s entirety. ‘Salt and Pepper’ seasons the album with some tantalising riffs while ‘Hey Little Baby’ is as smooth as a lullaby. ‘Lonely Boy Paradise’ offers a break from the snowy blanket of opening tracks. It adopts a beach tone with calming waves of guitar and stealth charm.

The title track is like a refreshing dip into a waterfall with its singing strings, tropical beats and shakers, and Stone’s silky vocals echoing through. The closing track, ‘Hey Man Don’t Look At Me Like That’ is not so much a song as it is five minutes of messing around in the studio.

Smooth Big Cat while consistent and in character for Dope Lemon, is at times quite boring due to the repetitive nature of tracks, sounds, layering and monotone vocals in across every track, particularly for those that are five minutes in length. Overall though, Smooth Big Cat embodies the title in its sleepy, delicate and therapeutic sound and delivery.

3.5/5
BMG Australia
Reviewed by Tammy Walters