hinterland - under the waterline
from the label that brought us the latest tex la homa release we now get this release from a canadian big epic post rock guitar soundscapes band.
predominantly slow, low and melancholy. female vocals set against broody rock music.
opening track 'wasntevenwasted' with its full synths and oboe type instrumentation - all drifts on nicely and then at the 3 minute mark the fem vox hits. female vocals from another time and place, by michaela galloway - comparisons are familiar but out of my memories reach at the moment - if i make the connection i will update here ! got it - cocteau twins. not a style that sits easily to start with, and has taken some getting tuned into. now that the song has come into its main section the guitars are now in full force and the sound is large. repeated listening has revealed that this is a fine opening mood creating track. the album has a distinct air of gloomness about it. autumnal. but hey i guess thats postrock for you .. though with second track 'lethe waters' does indeed have a more upbeat tuneful aspect of it - tis almost jingle jangle guitars and a sweet melody that really does begin to gel after several exposures, and then the tune subsides and the track veers into serious guitar led wonderment where clean melody lines collide with dark basslines. 2 excellent opening tracks. special.
next up is 'low low light' which unfortunately doesn't work quite as well and drifts on far too long, most songs on this album are far in excess of the 5 minute mark but this one approaches 8 .. and therefore becomes a little too much to bear .. it is calming and the layered vocals are pretty damn fine in places and raise the appeal level, but the song doesn't really go anywhere and therefore its easy to loose interest .. though maybe this is the desired result ? the song then drifts into aspidistra which has a better defined melody and more of an urgency about it and pulls the interest levels back up .. especially at the 2.5 minute mark .. damn the layers are piled on now , dual vocals, effect pedals on max .. stunning stuff. and for once all too brief but followed by another cracker 'portrait of my invention' .. more sublime melodies and large layers of guitars ..
shall i drop the word shoegazing in here ? yup. and mighty fine shoegazing as well. luckily they mellow out for the next few tracks and let the bloodrush calm ..
ok - there is little in the way of variety the album has a consistent sound of atmospheric guitars and strong songs, this album when in the appropriate mood really does hit the right spot ..