pinksoir wrote: » I've only listened once, but my first impression is that this record is not bad, but not great either. There are definitely some enjoyable enough songs; 'Earthly Pleasure' is good with an interesting lyrical idea; 'The Waves' is good too; '{Awayland}' is a nice interlude; 'In a Newfound Land You Are Free' is a really great song, arranged and produced just right. The whole record sounds really really good. There are tons of little incidental production ideas that really add to things. And there are some lovely arrangements of songs. Not to mention the musicianship on show; it's just expertly executed. I love the way the piano can come in and soak the whole track, almost engulfing it before backing away. The strings are often gorgeous. And the little electronic elements and glitches add to the sound greatly. I love the closeness of Conor's voice, saliva clicks and all. And there are a few moments when he's put back a bit further in the mix, or wettened with reverb, and these moments work really well in contrast to the up-closeness of the vocal in general. But, and this is a huge but, you can't make a record relying totally on sound. There has to be songs. And unfortunately, the vast majority of melodies on this album are unmemorable. The one song that does have a strong melody is 'Nothing Arrived' but it feels like well trodden ground if I'm honest. And there are no really great lyrics; nothing that made me smile, go "hmmm", or introduced me to a new way of seeing something. There are a few good lyrical ideas alright, but that's it. I found myself reaching for the skip button when songs were coming to a close much too often, and there seemed to be a tendency to make the song build up at it's end and then leave us hanging. When that technique is used well it can be great, but when it's overused it quickly becomes tired. in fact, when any technique is overused it becomes tired, which is why the best things about this record are little spontaneous flourishes or production ideas that work through contrast. Overall, the album seems to lack any sort of centrepiece or focus. I kept expecting to be wowed by the next song, but the wow never came. Instead I left feeling a bit flat and underwhelmed. I was much more impressed by, and indeed drawn to, the production and overall sound of the record than I was any songwriting or lyrics, which for obvious reasons is not a good thing. I honestly expected a lot more from this record.
kunst nugget wrote: » I think an awful lot of that has to do with the amount of time we give albums now. Pre-internet, you might have given the album a couple of weeks before fully writing it off and moving on. Now, you might give it a couple of days or a couple of hours. A lot of times, you have to engage with great albums as much as they engage to get the most out of them, if you get what I'm saying. Not saying this is a great album either. I haven't listened to it enough to make up my mind and I'm not sure yet if there is enough in it to distract me from my internet porn and funny cat pics.
