Many records echo with a sense of the setting, the physical place, that was the backdrop to their birth. Of course, this isn’t always the case, Talk Talk, for example, fashioned the finest soundscapes of pastoral beauty in a windowless bunker in North London, so it is not an exact science, but when you read that The Haunted Life of Architecture’s roots are found in a writing session in a Welsh cottage overlooking the ruins of a medieval castle, it totally makes sense.
Amateur Ornithologist (these kids with their crazy band names, huh) give us an album of quirky, psych-pop, but there is something ethereal and elemental found between the chords and notes, something slightly soulful and wonderfully sophisticated wrapped around the beats and the groove. And groove it does, despite its often, oft-beat and slightly late-Beatles experiementalsism…“Decoupage,” I’m looking at you…the songs are always rooted in an easy infectiousness and an ornateness not often found in pop music. (If this is even pop music.)
“Catch a Glimpse” reminds me of those eighties new-pop bands such as Deacon Blue or The Blue Nile, forward-thinking, unquestionably pop, yet soulful and shimmering in the light of a new age and face of more discerning tastes. “Winter Sun” is trumpet-soaked and simmering, creating its great dynamic by moving between serenity and super-charged beats, pace, and poise. And “Lament” sits as close to the neo-classical as it does the alt-pop.
It’s a strange yet invigorating experience, both experimental and accessible. It might take you a few moments to retune your ear, but when you are in the zone, it becomes a most rewarding and revolutionary experience.
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