I, like a lot of music fans, look forward to new releases on Apple Music (or whatever platform you use). I routinely check in to see who’s dropping what and try to find new groups to dig into. I’m always looking for that group that paralyzes me for a while – what a great find this is…when it so rarely happens. This album did it for me – it had me stuck for a while.
I listened to the first track and wasn’t let down. I then looked them up on YouTube and watched some live work and was impressed. At this point, I’m getting excited. I then watched a music video on Apple Music and it reminded me of Procol Harum’s Whiter Shade of Pale video – that’s the vibes I was getting – and it was in! I’ve listened to this album twice now, recommended it to several others, and added several songs to my playlist.
The songwriting on this album is well done. It is simple but, very well done. It goes along well with the simple music style too. Things fit on this album. Some of the songs have simple conversations between the two singers. I think one says, “Excuse me” and the other answers with “What?” There are also some lines, or words at the end of lines rather, repeated which give a poetic effect to the songwriting. As I’ve gotten older and really started to appreciate music, it is increasingly important to me that the music I listen to be well written. These folks have my attention – they write good music.
As far as sound goes, it was unique too. This is something else I look for musically. I don’t like to hear the people that sound like everyone else. Being eclectic, I am looking for something new. Something that shows me there are people in the world who are eclectic too and pair that with their musical talents to make fresh sounds. I’m not a musician so, I don’t know how they may or may not feel about being compared to others’ sounds. I must make comparisons here though. The vocal style reminds me, on a simple level, of Mazzy Star or the Cowboy Junkies. The music has a Japanese feel to it in my opinion – a poppy Japanese feel. There are a lot of real smooth, clean, and catchy guitar riffs in it too. Chaise Longue is the one that I liked the most as far as guitar work – especially live.
I understand this is the only album this group has. I hated that because I wanted to dig into a catalog. Of course, this puts me in a position to be a fan from an early and listen as they develop a catalog. I hope that they don’t change styles but, that’s their art to make and not mine. I’m going to try to catch these guys live too if possible. I have a feeling that they are better live than on record. This is a big selling point for me. If you can perform awesome without computers helping you, you probably are the real deal.