-=- SHGZ -=-
* Shoegaze * Indie * Post-rock * Grunge * Dream Pop * Ambient * Ethereal *
Artist..: Drowner
Album...: You're Beautiful, I Forgive You
GENRE....: Indie
STYLE....: Shoegaze
LABEL....: Saint Marie SCENE.....: 2015-02-06
BITRATE..: 868 kbps avg STORE.....: 2013-08-13
ENCODER..: FLAC 1.2.1 -8 -V TRACKS....: 12
SIZE.....: 350.7MB SOURCE....: CD
URL..: http://www.drownerband.com/
- TRACKLIST
1 Glow 3:25
2 On Bright Days 5:36
3 Automatic Zen 3:39
4 Mirror 6:24
5 Metro 4:02
6 Stay With Me 5:11
7 You 3:23
8 Not There 7:26
9 Shadow 4:38
10 Our Last Day 5:16
11 Fear of Falling 3:58
12 Innocent 3:39
Total Playtime: 56:37
Drowner, on their first proper long player, presents a band at ease with
experimenting outside of their shoegaze and dream pop beginnings.
Formed in 2010 by Darren Emanuel and Anna Bouchard and extended to a full
line up in 2012 with the addition of Sean Evans, Mike Brewer and Ron Rushing,
Drowner, whose music has been called "gigantic, impassioned
shoegaze...ear-deafeningly loud and sonically breath taking...Hints of
SpiritualizedÆs lysergic gospel..." by The 405, returns with a new album,
You're Beautiful, I Forgive You.
With the band expanded to 5 pieces just as the tracks were being sketched in,
the contributions of new personnel and a more live approach to recording make
for an album with a solid rock sound and dynamics. Tracks like "Glow,"
"Metro" and the lead single "Stay With Me" reach massive intensities, while
more downtempo songs like "Mirror" and "Not There" lose you in space and
texture. Other tracks, like "On Bright Days" and "Auto Zen" take an amped-up
and breezy, dream pop approach.
Building on the sonic energy of their first release (last year's self titled
EP), Drowner, on their first proper long player, presents a band at ease with
experimenting outside of their shoegaze and dream pop beginnings. Many of the
same elements are here, but are more nuanced: layered vocals are brought to
the fore, the arrangements are more confident and the balance of noise,
shimmer and melody, more finely rendered. The instrumentation expands to
include warm piano and slide guitar, bringing a hint of soulful country. True
to their foundations, Drowner's You're Beautiful, I Forgive You, is
smoldering and cinematic, lyrical yet powerful; a compelling and listenable
record.
*
Following a promising debut EP in 2012, Houston, Texas-based dream pop unit
Drowner deliver volumes of glistening post-shoegaze bliss on their debut
full-length, You're Beautiful, I Forgive You. Built on a solid foundation of
the shoegaze greats, Drowner lean more toward the sophisticated atmospheres
of Slowdive and the kaleidoscopic pop of Lush or Curve than My Bloody
Valentine's layers of tender noise, though the driving rhythms of tunes like
"Stay with Me" and "Shadow" do recall Loveless' woozy trip-hop-like live drum
loops. From their shoegaze foundations, the songs stretch out into different
territories, with Anna Bouchard's subtly processed vocals either guiding the
tunes or sinking into their sonic depths. Tracks like "On Bright Days" find
Bouchard in the forefront, confident and airy over jangly psychedelic guitar
that recalls the most optimistic moments of Ride or Chapterhouse in their
hazy early-'90s summits. Elsewhere, the smoky churn of "Not There" finds her
drawn-out harmonies channeling Low's Mimi Parker in a stoic, cautious
delivery. Apart from Bouchard's shifting and often gorgeous experiments with
vocals, textural guitar work throughout the album is another key component
for its success. Tones change from track to track, often blurring into each
other through layers of Spiritualized-like honeyed tremolo and resolving in
walls of fuzz not unlike that of Deerhunter, Mogwai, No Joy, or other dream
pop envelope-pushers. The 12 songs here tend to stretch out languidly,
sometimes running into each other over the almost hourlong running time of
the album. Though almost every track stands strongly on its own, the entire
set can be a little tough to digest at once. However, the mood set by You're
Beautiful, I Forgive You can be something just as comforting and accessible
as the best tracks can be immediately engaging.
*
The debut full-length from this Houston quartet builds on their earlier EP to
cement their place amongst the best of the Nu-gaze crop of guitar-based
post-rockers. The wall of guitars atmospherics blend perfectly with vocalist
Anna BouchardÆs ephemeral embellishments which add a romantic aura to the
treated guitar effects. Fans of The Cure will find familiar signposts amid
Darren EmanuelÆs cascading, melodic guitar lines, particularly on tracks like
ôOn Bright Daysö and ôStay With Meö, which could easily have been Wish or
Disintegration outtakes.
ôAutomatic Zenö nicely separates the loud/soft dynamics to highlight
BouchardÆs heart-melting vocals, while the thousand-yard-stare of ôMirrorö
effectively captures the bandÆs sensitive side by effectively introducing
forlorn piano interludes. ItÆs here that the evocative album title elicits a
ôlight bulbö moment û the dichotomy of beautiful, occasionally whispered
vocals weaving around shards-of-glass guitars is perfectly represented by the
merciful resignation of meeting someone whose beauty has gotten them further
than their personality.
Side two is full of late night melancholia like ôYouö and the quiet, dreamy
ôNot Thereö, wherein the bandÆs floating, Cocteau TwinsÆ influences come to
the fore, particularly their Harold Budd collaboration, The Moon and The
Melodies. ôOur Last Dayö may be the yearÆs most tearjerking breakup song, and
Bouchard pulls out all the stops with her yearning pleas battling a wall of
glistening guitar noise that metaphorically keep pushing her away.
The band is not afraid to venture into soft and tender love song territory,
checking the head-bashing guitar onslaughts at the door for cascading
waterfall moments like ôFear of Fallingö and ôShadowö which demonstrate that
bombastic noise may not be the best way into your loverÆs heart!
Saint Marie have quietly, yet quickly emerged as one of the yearÆs finest
purveyors of Nu-gaze, post rock wonderfulness, introducing us to new bands
and sounds that effectively build upon their 80s and 90s influences to offer
a breath of fresh air amidst all that American Idol chatter. Side Two of
YouÆre Beautiful, I Forgive You may be their best collection of music yet,
and the entire disk is one of the yearÆs finest.
-=- SHGZ -=-
P.S.
** Thanks ***
*** BCC FNT IPC SSR ***
*** For Knowing Where The Music Is At ***
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* NuHS we miss you! *
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