-=- SHGZ -=-
* Shoegaze * Indie * Post-Rock * Grunge * Dream Pop * Psych-Rock * Ethereal *
Artist..: The Apartments
Album...: No Song, No Spell, No Madrigal
GENRE....: Indie
STYLE....: Indie Rock, Folk Rock
LABEL....: Microcultures SCENE.....: 2016-02-22
BITRATE..: 241 kbps avg STORE.....: 2014-00-00
ENCODER..: LAME 3.98.4 -V0 TRACKS....: 8
SIZE.....: 66.21MB SOURCE....: CD
URL..: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Apartments
- TRACKLIST
1 No Song, No Spell, No Madrigal 5:57
2 Looking For Another Town 4:21
3 Black Ribbons 4:01
4 Twenty One 6:04
5 The House That We Once Lived In 5:14
6 September Skies 3:55
7 Please, Don't Say Remember 3:35
8 Swap Places 5:07
Total Playtime: 38:14
What Peter Milton Walsh does as a songwriter is so simple yet so beguiling it
almost seems like a trick. Walsh, the leader of the venerable Australian
chamber pop ensemble the Apartments, has the ability to craft melodies that
are elemental yet timeless in their graceful, affecting beauty, and his
lyrics hold a mirror to love and loss in a manner that's deeply evocative but
never sinks into sentimentality or melodrama. Quite simply, Walsh has a touch
that's all but miraculous, and a heart that's real even when it aches. 2015's
No Song, No Spell, No Madrigal is the first album from the Apartments in 15
years, though it hardly sounds as if someone labored over it that long.
Instead, this music feels as if it spontaneously emerged from the collective
mind and spirit of Walsh and his collaborators, and the natural, immediate
tone is a wonder in itself given the subtle precision of the arrangements and
production, which are artful and dynamic without seeming overworked. No Song,
No Spell, No Madrigal features eight new songs from Walsh, which marry the
emotional intelligence of a gifted poet with the emotional intimacy of a
conversation overheard in a coffee shop, and these sketches of heartache and
disappointment may not go over at your next party, but on a quiet evening at
home, this is just the sort of music that overcomes melancholy with its
genuine beauty and superb craft (it's not often that songs with arrangements
as spare and roomy as these also manage to sound so full-bodied), while
"September Skies" shows there is room for sunshine in Walsh's world,
suggesting Lloyd Cole in his classic period. No Song, No Spell, No Madrigal
is a master class in intelligent pop songwriting that's a near perfect
reminder that Peter Milton Walsh is a neglected hero worthy of rediscovery,
and with any luck this album should open some fresh ears to his singular
talent.
*
Bizarrely, The Apartments have been recording for nearly 40 years! They
formed in Brisbane, Australia in 1978 and have been releasing music
on-and-off since then. No Songà is their ninth album. My first listen was
during a very hot and sunny summerÆs day, where the music felt distinctly out
of step; the snowy scene on the cover would perhaps provide a far more
fitting backdrop in which to enjoy this album, but having said that, its
charms are particularly vivid during sunset, as the day ebbs away. The
instrumentation is smooth, sublime and calming. Fans of The Blue Nile, Thomas
Feiner, The Go-Betweens and The National are sure to fall in love with this
album.
The opening track, which takes its name from the album title, gently builds
and weaves itself around you. ItÆs not an album highlight as such, but it
lays the groundwork rather nicely in the same way as when youÆre watching
bands at a festival û a loud, uplifting band has just left the stage, and on
walk The Apartments and suddenly everything turns mellow. It takes several
songs to lock into a mood change like that. Imagine watching Florence and the
Machine followed by The National. Euphoria followed by calm. Happiness
followed by delicate longing, perhaps.
ItÆs the self same longing that shines through most brightly as the central
message across this album. Whether itÆs the memory of a lost friend in
æSeptember SkiesÆ (æThe railway yards, the flour mills, where a world goes on
û but youÆre not in itÆ), longing for a lost love in æTwenty OneÆ (ôDidnÆt I
promise you that one day IÆd take you away to New York? Whatever happened to
the promise? Whatever happened to the time? It ran outö), or memories of a
previous home in æThe House That We Once Lived InÆ (ôOh the trees there are
so tall now. They were planted when your first child was born. The swings in
the yard are still there now, but the child and the flowers are goneô).
æLooking For Another TownÆ commences with the most gorgeous strings. The
female harmonies during the chorus are sublime. If youÆre counting down the
days to the next Paul Buchanan album and youÆre looking for an excuse to
purchase a quality album, æLooking For Another TownÆ should provide all the
evidence you need, itÆs delightful.
Similarly, those same male/female harmonies are employed to great effect
throughout æBlack RibbonsÆ. Essentially, a call and response song, where
Peter Milton Walsh delivers a verse followed by the gorgeous vocals of
Natasha Penot delivering the next. The chorus contains the most beautiful
chord sequence. æBlack RibbonsÆ is worth the entrance price alone.
The aforementioned æTwenty OneÆ feels distinctly sad until we hit the
three-minute mark when the anger really comes flooding out û the anger of
losing somebody very special before theyÆve hit their twenty-first birthday.
æSeptember SkiesÆ delivers a more optimistic message, slightly reminiscent of
fellow Aussies The Church.
Overall, The Apartments have delivered a magical album. Records like this
really donÆt come around too often. Immerse yourself in it.
-=- 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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