We get a lot of shoegaze tracks these days, so it’s extremely refreshing to encounter some with a twist from the mind of Haunted Images, aka Irish producer and songwriter David O’Farrell-McGeary.
The album begins with I Forgive You which blends traditional shoegaze textures and structure with decidedly more metal-leaning tones (perhaps Deftones?) and what sounds like…strings?
As the second song begins, the acoustic guitar reminds us of early Coldplay (has anyone ever mentioned Coldplay, strings and Deftones in the same article before? Gotta be a first, surely?!) Later in the same track (If You Want) and just for a moment, we’re met with almost DJ Shadow or UNKLE sounding percussion. This is really ambitious, adventurous stuff.
The third track is a stunning acoustic orchestral interlude which leads into the recent single Stay Awake. An alt-rock/shoegaze anthem that brings to mind classic MBV dynamics but combines them with a decidedly emo lyrical tendency.
Sometimes follows this and it gets off to a gently lilting, very clean-sounding start. Lyrically, it’s introspective and confessional. It shimmers and slinks along, organically and tastefully growing generously without ever becoming overblown.
I Don’t Know Where It Begins Or Where It Ends Anymore is another little interlude. It’s a stunning instrumental soundscape that chimes and shines over the course of its 122 seconds and is a wonderful palette cleanser before we continue with the rest of the album.
Take Me Instead is a chameleon of a tune. It begins with a heavily distorted staccato guitar line that sets the tone for a metal monster of a track. But by the time the vocal comes in, it’s so tender that it feels like something else entirely. This is compounded by the addition of electro-sounding instrumentation that is much more Harry Heart than Kerry King. There’s almost an alt-pop/indie R&B lean to some of the vocal stylings here that works wonderfully as a counterfoil to the music that eventually – unbelievably – descends into an almost pseudo-electro/disco banger.
Grey Days is another single that was released before the album. It’s a much more straight-up alt-rock/shoegaze tune and gives us time to catch our breath after the shock of the last track. It’s solid, steady and simple – at least compared to some of the tracks here. But it’s catchy as hell, and the solo in the last third of the song, with its face-melting tone and spellbinding sweep picking, is proper Guitar Hero stuff.
A Grey Sky Over A City Of Ghosts is up next. Another instrumental moment and the penultimate piece, and it’s as glorious as the two that preceded it. It’s tender and delicate and throws you off nicely before pummeling you with what follows.
Heavenlevel7 is 5 and a half minutes of world-building sonic experimentations and expression. Swirling sound, layer upon layer of detail, and masterful instrumental performances combine to make a tapestry as rich as anything from Explosions In The Sky, M83 or Silver Mt. Zion. And then, out of nowhere, the beat drops. Dorothy clicks her heels and we’re back in alt-R&B territory. What a stylistic departure to finish off the record. Just when we thought this album had thrown everything it had at us, it hits us with this. And then, for the last two minutes, we’re wizzed back to Oz and the wall of sound guitars.
Bloody hell. We’re definitely not in Kansas anymore.
Written by Kinda Grizzly
