Eagle and Talon: In Manila

Eagle and Talon play synth-heavy, drum-machine-y dance pop, built around the voices and multi-instrumental skills of Kim and Alice Talon. EP In Manila opens with a short instrumental, “I Want Everything”, before moving to a fairly bland uptempo number, “In Manila”. Soon enough, this segues to a somewhat less bland midtempo number “Ruen Pair”, before charging headlong into this-is-almost-interesting territory with “Modified My Knife” and its underbelly of noisy guitars. Album closer “For the Bond” is the first song that utilizes the two women’s vocals in any kind of interesting way, but it’s too little, too late. The songs are all competent enough slices of keyboards ‘n’ vocals, but a fairly predictable sonic palette, coupled with too-similar time signatures and song structures stuck in the two-to-four-minute range, ensures that nothing here is terribly compelling. No idea what those breathily chirpy voices are breathily chirping about, either.