Thursday, January 10, 2013

SBSR: Snow Mantled Love “Romance 126”

Snow Mantled LoveRomance 126
<1>”If You Want to” - We start in a somewhat minimal/lo-fi way, but then the female vocals come in and it’s simply beautiful.   I’d start throwing out names like Bjork, Mazzy Star, Mirah and others you’d expect from me but it really doesn’t do it any justice.   Near the 2:30 mark the song seemingly fades out and then comes back in again.    It’s coming back in now with some laser-like guitars, which I’m digging.   And it goes out on drums.  Not a bad way to start this album.
<2> “A Clear Mind” - This song doesn’t really start until after the thirty second mark.   The vocals are somewhat closer to the Cranberries right now.   Not in the “Zombie” way, but in the “Linger” way.   This is still lo-fi, it’s still minimal and it’s acoustic as well.   But wow, it’s really good.  I’d listen to this on vinyl for best sound quality.   Near three minutes it does that thing again where It nearly sounds like it’s ending.   It comes back in quite lovely though. 
<3> “Leaves” – This song sounds the closest to something you’d hear on indie rock radio (Somewhere between Kimbra and Regina Spektor), but it’s also the shortest song on this album at 1:45.
<4> “Trying to Be Found” – We open with acoustic guitar notes that are a slight change of pace.   Vocals come in quickly and it still doesn’t remind me of that annoying singer/songwriter style that you’d think of with Jewel and so many others that just got so overplayed.    The vocals do remind me of someone specific, but I can’t place who so I’ll just keep listening.    If at this point of the album you’re wondering why it’s titled “Romance 126”, I am wondering the same thing.   It’s kind of funny how much female-fronted music I’ve been unintentionally downloading lately.   After three minutes, we get all quiet again.   These songs do enjoy fading in and out like different acts in a play.   The second half of this song appears to be hauntingly instrumental. 
<5> “In the End” – It takes over a minute for this song to really see any light.   Don’t you like how people use references to other senses when writing about music?  This song couldn’t really see any light, so much as it can be heard.    I just heard glass shatter.   Near 4:30, it’s almost over and it almost fades out, but then it comes back to briefly end.
<6> “Who Will Say Goodbye” – An organ sound it what starts this last song.   A minute in and we have the lo-fi minimalist sound with very little vocals.   The vocals, nearing the two minute mark, don’t appear to be singing about anything in particular.   Around two minutes it fades out and does not come back for the last twenty seconds or so.

No comments:

Post a Comment