EP PREMIERE: Graeme's Ivory Dinner Party - Pretty People, Pretty Places

Up-and-coming Adelaide outfit Graeme's Ivory Dinner Party have spent much of 2016 chipping away at constructing their EP, Pretty People, Pretty Places, and the talented three-piece is unveiling its three excellent tracks with The Music today, ahead of its release.

Though just a little shorter than many EPs (track list-wise, at any rate), GIDP have crammed in a wealth of musical gorgeousness into their release, demonstrating a cohesion of vision and sound that nonetheless traverses a breadth of influences.

The songs themselves started life as a collection of tracks written following a week away in Hobart, ultimately being recorded between the band's home town of Adelaide and the far-off lands of Montreal, Canada. The album was engineered, mixed and mastered by Ryan O'Dea, who, as thanks for his troubles, has been welcomed to the ranks of the one-time two-piece, by existing members Jacob Whitelock and Mitre Khammash, as their third fully fledged member.

The band's vocal interplay is arguably one of their strongest distinctions, frequently using harmonies and canon techniques to build positively luminous, exceedingly luscious soundscapes despite their proclivity for instrumental minimalism. To wit, opener Sick makes brilliant use of gentle guitar, voice work and not much else (save the occasional splash of jazzy sax and the odd backing clap); MONA expands on the trick, building itself on the one-two punch of vocals and six-string; and closer Peter Pan proves an expansive, atmospheric piece whose slow-burn crescendo gives way to a gorgeous, comparatively wide outro.

It's a masterful use of restraint, coaxing much out of little and hitting some serious high points in the process.  

If you're into it, head to the band's Facebook page and swing them a Like to keep yourself abreast of their upcoming movements.