The first time I played this album, I greatly enjoyed the sound of its muted beats, acoustic guitars, and carefully programmed synths — the lush and grungy tones alike are all obviously crafted with care and skill. Occasionally a chord or a line of lyric leapt out of me, and the I found her sweet vocals, mostly double- or triple-tracked, enticing. I looked forward to diving deeper.
The second time, I had a bit more trouble with it. I think my mistake was setting aside an hour to give it my full attention. I could hear the things I’d enjoyed the first time round, the delightful surprises, the sparse arrangements, the slightly exotic rhythms which I thought were maybe a mutated form of bossa nova (she has Turkish heritage, so maybe it’s inspired by Türkü, but I don’t know what that sounds like). But the connective tissue between those lovely moments wilted a little bit under my more intense scrutiny.
I’m listening as I write this and now, perhaps because I am distracted with constructing sentences and whatnot, it sounds great again! I’m tempted to call it Schröedinger’s album, but I’m trying to be less pretentious this week.
There’s maybe something EDM about the melodies and the sound design, but it’s obviously not intended for the dance-floor, it’s too close-mic’d and intimate for that, not to mention not fast enough. Perhaps this is a chill-out album, well suited to nursing a raver through a hang-over or a come-down. I don’t know exactly, my contact with rave culture is limited to one night that was hosted by the pub where I used to rehearse. I’d seen the intimidating floor-to-ceiling tower of speakers and was curious about what it was capable of, so I popped in later to check it out: it was an incredible full-body experience that I enjoyed, but have never sought to repeat. It was like taking a bath in bass. I was glad it was over as I chatting outside the pub, waving off one car-load of ravers as they set off for another loud dance party in Wales, and heard them crank up yet more dance music in their car as they left. The point is, I’m not sure if those guys ever really got round to chilling out, they seemed pretty relentlessly on it. But if that day ever comes, this is the album I’d recommend to them.
Is it background music? Is there anything wrong with background music? I don’t think so… this is great background music. It’s solid throughout, but the openers Keep on Dancing and Like I Say are excellent representatives of what I like about it. I also took a shine to Made out of Memories.
7.5/10
