KEIRA IS YOU "Last Row Needs Heroes" (2013)

band: Keira is You album: Last Row Needs Heroes year: 2013

genres: atmospheric rock origin: Poland

PLENTY OF MELODIES TO REMEMBER

Remember when all you had to do in order to chase for new good music was standing in front the TV, tune it to MTV, endow yourself with a notebook and be ready to write down bands and artists’ names, titles of songs and albums and even clever music video directors? It’s been a long time since Headbangers Ball was replaced by 16 and Pregnant. Nowadays going hunting in the huge current music scene can be a tough-going job. One has to deeply dig into piles and piles of new indie bands. But this energy-consuming task is worth carrying out when one finds unforgettable albums that can become a part of your life. This time I feel lucky of having found this Poland-based band called Keira is You, hidden like a gem among stones into the handful of blogs and webzines I am used to visit. The actual name of this new-found jewel is “Last Row Needs Heroes”, it is the third output of Keira is You.

Even though the band tags themselves as punk, anarchism is not the kind of feeling dwelling this room as I listen to this album. Rather than encouraging murdering a politician, “Last Row Needs Heroes” leaves you a taste of melancholy brought by utterly beautiful melodies and an atmospheric approach throughout the album. Namely, the sound of Keira is You is closer to post-rock, shoegaze, atmospheric rock and maybe darkwave, with that feature of emotional tread. I bet you have read this same description for an uncountable number of albums before. Nevertheless folks, in this kind of situations what makes a band to stand out or to be highlighted are the means with which they gear up in order to drive the listener through the moods they want to. The instrumentation, the melodies, the passages, the lyrics and, chiefly, the song-writing take a paramount role in Keira is You.

With a cover art that immediately reminds me of My Dying Bride's "Like Gods of the Sun", “Last Row Needs Heroes” is a train of emotions. Since the band kicks off the album with “Frinds with Time” you grasp that this is not a happy day at all. The singer chanting melancholic lines with a slow aching guitar and rising feedback effects announce the beginning of a low-down journey. Henceforth clean guitars will take over the album until its end. Striking is the fact that the melodies of these guitars are sometimes quite simple and slow, yet effective. This kind of minimalism and slowness brings that feeling of depression aimed for many into the slowcore genre in the 90’s. A bunch of guitar passages can however evoke to The Cure. But folks, gloom here is thicker, perhaps closer to This Empty Flow, not only because of the echoed clean guitars and its spine-chilling simplicity but also because of the other means of which Keira is You takes advantage. Here you can find utterly beautiful strings and a grand piano. This special elements ornament the sound of the album building a charming atmosphere of hopelessness. You can be given the chills as the album reaches its emotional climax performed by these strings in the ending moments of “Wait Dale”. Extra percussion can be found as well, those are developed by Magnus Lindberg, the same fellow of mighty Culf of Luna who has actually produced and mixed this album.

There is no easy forgetting song in “Last Row Needs Heroes”. The creativity of the band is shown by making several long tracks (up to 9 minutes) and getting rid of the traditional pop-ish song structure of alternation of versus and chorus. Each song is different, keeping the listener from boring but always wavering in the same emotional scope. You can go from dark songs like the homonymous one, which is left as the last track, to some others with sudden beams of hope, like “Wait Dale”. The latter is a different song, especially on drums, becoming in one of the highlights of the album. Some spooky moments can be found in “Ashtray & The Beat of His Heart” and lyrically in “Dis”, where you can hear “...I’ve been given the cross and crown, I’m leading the procession..”, doomy stuff, eh? However, it is in “O’Brien” where the singer seems to be really inspired, this outstanding track features an unexpected accordion brought by the band’s bass player. Standing by its own is “Monitors”, the first single of the album with quite mysterious bass lines and keyboards. A maddening one-shot video was made for this song.  

Personally, my favorite track is “Chariot of the Sad”. This piece is so melancholic that it dares to open with a beautiful 2-minute long piano introduction. The melody of the song is haunting as hell and, as above mentioned, it is downtempo and simple. Here vocals sound forlorn yet charming while the song is driven by the piano rather than the drums which sound softly in the background.

Undoubtedly you have listened to a song some years after you first enjoyed it and it brings you back to those days. That’s the gorgeous relationship between memories and music. I am wholly sure that after some years have passed I will listen to this album and it will bring me back to these four months I am spending in Gainesville, Florida, a long way from my hometown in Mexico. The powerful songs of this album have something mysterious on them that makes them so haunting. Bands can hook up the listener this way only when they are able to develop well inspired song-writing. Fans of bands like Canaan, The Cure, This Empty Flow, Anathema, The Eden House and even The XX, among many others, have to make sure of giving a listen to this underrated band. 

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OUR CEASING VOICE "That Day Last November" (2013)

band: Our Ceasing Voice album: That Day Last November year: 2013 
genres: post-rock origin: Austria

REMEMBER LAST NOVEMBER?

Spending some minutes alone in the bedroom or taking a ride in a bus during night draws a lot of thoughts about what one has done in the past, about why the sorrow that many of us hold inside has been there for so many years and, of course, about too many memories… There are certainly good albums to be played in these situations. Austria based outfit Our Ceasing Voice has produced an album that seems to have been written in a night of hard memories of a day in specific, and appears to be thought to sound in your ears during the situations above described.

“That Day Last November”, the new album of Our Ceasing Voice is striking for many reasons. Nevertheless, everything has been made for the sake of developing the most overwhelming atmosphere possible. These guys have been forging this sound during several years, a clear evolution and unfurl of more inspiration can be found in this new album comparing it with its predecessor “When the Headline Hit Home”, the only other conception of the band that I had listened before. Labeled by the media and themselves as post-rock, Our Ceasing Voice used to sound like what we expected to sound from a post-rock act, with mostly instrumental songs, a nice usage of pedals and effects and the clear aim of developing atmospheric music. I’m pretty sure that something happened in the life of Sebastian Obermeir, the individual who writes most of the music and lyrics, that changed his days and it is worth expressing, filling this new album with the most poignant inspiration. This inspiration yields to a different post-rock sound with a less generic structure. That situation that changed everything should have happened in a day in last November…

Perhaps the immediate things that claim attention in this album are the vocals. It is not easy for a post-rock band to deal with this. In a genre that aims for a perfect synchrony between the music elements, sometimes vocals and lyrics just can´t engage in the atmosphere. Our Ceasing Voice has dared to add vocals to all the tracks in the album. The big hook for listeners to trust in this decision is the singer song-writer Matthew Ryan. After some mails, he acceded to join the recording of the album, collaborating with a couple of songs. Of course we remember how wonderfully the voice of Matthew Ryan fits with post-rock due to his collaboration with Hammock in the song “Like New Year’s Day”. Well, with this song in mind, and after taking a few listens to this album I’m sure all of you will conclude that Mattew Ryan should be a full-time member of a post-rock band. In addition, vocals in the album also feature the interesting whispers of Reinhard Obermeir, as well as some female vocals, growls and even gang shouts.

Vocals walk along with the layers of sounds, effects, charming and melancholic harmonies, demanding a polymorphic usage of vocals. Reinhard Obermeir delivers quite a powerful whisper, yet far from the deep whispers of cheesy gothic metal singers. In the opening track “Afterglow”, vocals just don’t seem to work. A close interaction between the music and vocals is aimed. However in this first song the changes of vocal styles just can’t fit with the mood of both lyrics and atmosphere. But give them another chance, things go better in the rest of the album. In the second track Matthew Ryan appears, his unique voice sounds amazing in both tracks he collaborated, whereas in “Until Your Chest Explodes” he seems to sing varying his tone just as the music in the song does, in the other one “The Anniversary” he is closer to the spoken word style. “Until Your Chest Explodes” is actually the less dark and bleak song, the less down-tempo as well. However, the cruel message in the lyrics Matthew Ryan wrote makes you think about how wrong we are living our lives.

Our Ceasing Voice are clever people, they have the gift of driving the listener through images hidden in our minds and plotted here in the form of soundscapes. The music is slow and throws a lot of gloom. The structure of most of the songs, though not taken as a tenet, is based in starting with a quiet atmosphere, melodies in clean guitars and some nice soft drones helped by keys and even acoustic guitars, then the sound rises and the shoegazer and other noisy effects are carried out. This is the climax of each song, and Our Ceasing Voice knows how to manipulate the vocal duties to reach this climax. Both Matthew Ryan and Obermeir speak rather than sing in this album, which I find it really interesting. The comparison with Matt Finney in his collaboration with Heinali is unavoidable. But, just as in the case of Matt Finney and his introspective writing, the spoken words are necessary when Obermeir relates the situation involved in that November. Perhaps the most spine-chilling example is the third track “One of These Nights”, where Obermeir whispers in a bleak and dying way, his voice almost breaks down while he’s speaking about really specific moments. I love this style of writing, much in the vein of Katatonia’s Jonas Renkse and 40 Watt Sun’s Patrick Walker. The album features lyrics that include even dates and time references, yet keeping some uncertainty for the listener’s interpretation; and here’s where one can link one’s own experiences and let oneself to pierce the memories.

The album is haunting as a whole. The formula developed by Our Ceasing Voice is effective and original; this is, in my opinion, their apex. It is recommended for you to play the album using either headphones or powerful speakers with high volume. Whereas using headphones you can feel the whispers in each ear and find delightful details in music, voices and lyrics, when you play it in high volume you can enjoy the powerful rasp whispers which, by means of a nice level of bass, will make the whole room to shake just like the drone and feedback elements in the music will bring. Perhaps you haven’t noticed it, but strange things and shit use to happen in each November, this album is perfect to dive into your memories and remember that day, last November… 

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CASSIE "Sing About Me" (2012)

band: Cassie album: Sing About Me year: 2012 genres: post-rock origin: Finland

YOU WILL SING ABOUT THIS ALBUM

Last year the world of underground music was shaken by a small short EP entitled “Something You Always Wanted to Hear”. And the title was authentic, the EP shed sounds our ears were waiting for since a long time. The minds behind it were Cassie, a young Finland based band, which saw the light of day just in self 2011. The impact of three-track “Something You Always Wanted to Hear” was so that you can find a video on youtube of some guys from a school in Taiwan covering “Tin Cans and Strings”, perhaps the most outstanding song out the EP. In this blog, the EP peaks at #8 of the best albums of 2011. So, why did the world worship Cassie in the last year? Well, the reason is a really deep blend of beautiful sounds whose roots seem to be attached to post-rock music, but this time vocals are added. A reckless deed! Lots of songs from respected huge names of post-rock are fucked-up due to the use of guest vocals, but I can ensure that this is not the case. In fact, vocals are one of the aces of Cassie.

It took just one year for the band to release their first full-length album, just one year but it is a much waited album though. The title is “Sing About Me” and this time Cassie delight us with 5 songs running 34 minutes of completely new material. The album is set to be released on September 6^th, a first single was up not many weeks ago for free download on the their bandcamp page. The good news are that Cassie have not changed the formula of their sound. “Sing About Me” is as catching as “Something You Always Wanted to Hear”. Every song in this new album creates such a beautiful atmosphere. Although, the backbone of the music lies into the post-rock framework, Cassie is far of being completely bounded and defined by this tag. The whole atmosphere and mood of the album seems to carry the listener through different soundscapes, while one of the most prevalent features seems to be the contrast, the sudden changes, the motion between calm and tension, this is how clean guitars meet aggressive riffs in sudden instants. The same pattern appears in most of the songs, they begin with quiet sound to acutely turn the atmosphere into chaos. Shoegazer effects ornament these riffs bringing a quite beautiful sound. Personally I love this kind of guitars, I actually rather the sound of them in this album than in the EP, take a listen to the ones in “Alex”, where pedals make a nice work. The high tone guitars can take lots of post-rock bands into mind, but this time also remind me of northamerican outfit Oceana in their metalcore debut “The Tide”.

Of course, the sound of Cassie is blessed with the sweet vocals of Sofia Thuren. Her voice is a bit similar to the one of the singer from german pop act Wonderwall. Thuren is poignant and expressive. She fits exactly with the emotional impact demanded by the sound of the album. I mean, a soft melancholic voice typical of shoegazer bands or an aggressive guttural growling would not fit in Cassie’s music. Thuren sounds melancholic in most of the time, especially in the beginning of opening track “Whalers” but also sounds desperate in the end of “Alex”. Every moment involves interesting lyrics related with tragic love scenes, just the same way of “Tin Cans and Strings”. However, in a similar way that Anathema or Slowdive do it, Cassie shows some light in “Deep Sea Documentaries”. This song is actually the most dynamic track in the album, a clean song leaded by Thuren’s performance, complemented by a beautiful cello in the background. A trumpet also joins the atmosphere in “Golden”, a melancholic trumpet that can’t help reminding The Gathering’s most resent singles “Heroes for Ghost” and “Meltdown”.

Since the first hit-play to this album I can’t stop listening to it. The scope of Cassie’s auditory is wide, everyone inside post-rock, shoegaze, atmospheric rock, post-metal and lots of new affine terms will surely enjoy this one. “Sing About Me” will not disappoint any of the fans they have earned during the promotion of their first EP. However Cassie remains as an underground act, hope with this new album they receive more attention since this is, in my opinion, one of the best of 2012 so far.

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ANATHEMA "We're Here Because We're Here" (2010)

band: Anathema album: We're Here Because We're Here year: 2010 genres: atmospheric rock origin: England

Los últimos 7 años han sido una tortura para nosotros los fans de la legendaria banda de Liverpool Anathema. Fue en el 2003 la última vez que los habíamos visto lanzar un larga-duración, el ultra atmosférico y depresivo “A Natural Disaster”. Muchas cosas han cambiado a través de estos 7 años, pero en verdad creo que la vida de los hermanos Cavanagh ha cambiado más que la mía. Al parecer Vicent, Daniel y Jamie Cavanagh por fin han encontrado la luz después de más de 15 años de obscuridad y de haber entregado a sus fans varios de los discos más melancólicos y emocionales de todos los tiempos, además de haber sido uno de los precursores del death/doom metal a principios de los 90’s (junto con My Dying Bride y Paradise Lost). Así es, el nuevo disco de Anathema está lleno de luz, esperanza, amor y pensamientos positivos. Sin embargo, la sorpresa nos llegó desde el 2006 cuando Anathema publicó en su página web las canciones “Angels Walk Among Us”, “Everything” y “A Simple Mistake”, en seguida en la web anduvo rondando un supuesto demo titulado “Everything” que además incluía las canciones “Hindsight”, “Brinks” y “Lightening Song”. Anathema argumentaba en su página web que estas canciones eran descargables gratuitamente como un regalo para sus fans por todo su apoyo a través de estos años. La producción era independiente y así se mantendría hasta este nuevo larga-duración. Después, en el 2008, Anathema publica “Hindsight” un disco de versiones semi-acústicas de sus clásicos calmando un poco las ansias de sus fans, así mismo, se dijo que se lanzaría ese mismo año el larga-duración con el título de “Horizons”. El disco jamás llegó y tuvimos que esperar otro año completo para oír noticias de la banda. Es así como por fin, este 2010 recibimos la noticia de que el lanzamiento estaba listo y sería oficial para finales de Mayo, el disco ahora sería llamado “We’re Here Because We’re Here”. Es un trabajo independiente, sin embargo, Anathema lo lanza a través de Kscope Records. En la producción participa el mismísimo Steven Wilson de la famosa banda de rock progresivo Porcupine Tree así como Jon Astley quien ha trabajado con las leyendas The Who y Led Zeppelin.

Anathema es ya una banda renovada, este disco es un cambio drástico en su carrera. Musicalmente, aquí no queda el mínimo rastro de doom metal, tampoco de Pink Floyd quienes influenciaron fuertemente sus discos “Eternity”, “Alternative 4” y “Judgement”; ni siquiera hay influencia de Radiohead que marcó el sonido de la banda en “A Fine Day to Exit” y “A Natural Disaster”; ya no hay guitarras fuertes como las que todavía se oían en “A Natural Disaster”, no hay atmósfera obscura causada por densos teclados, mucho menos encontrarán la electrónica de “Closer”. “WAHBWAH” es un rock atmosférico más en la onda de Portishead, el piano toma un papel importantísimo, el ritmo de muchas canciones es llevado por este instrumento. Las guitarras son limpias en su mayoría, pero también encontrarán algunos riffs en canciones como “Summer Night Horizon”. Ojo a esta canción, es un Anathema completamente distinto pero en verdad que suena impresionante, es una melodía bien cuidada y el ritmo de la batería jamás se había oído en esta banda.

Vicent por su parte, ha hecho un trabajo impresionante con las voces, se oyen mejor que nunca, inclusive en “Thin Air” canta en una forma distinta, muy interesante. Su voz transmite muy bien la emociones del disco, este hecho resulta importante en la canción “Angels Walk Among Us” (otra de las maravillas del disco), con la participación de Ville Valo (HIM) en los coros, esta pieza contiene el climax de todo el álbum cuando Vicent canta desesperado:

“Mother can you hear me?
Can you tell me are you there?”

Todos los grandes fans de Anathema conocemos la trágica historia de la madre de los hermanos Cavanagh y “Angels Walk Among Us” aún cuenta con algo de sentimiento melancólico al respecto. Conserva esas guitarras en notas altas con las que Anathema ha trabajado desde el clásico del doom metal “Pentecost III” (1995). Amo estas guitarras y nunca ha dejado de usarlas, es de las pocas cosas que quedan sobre su pasado en “WAHBWAH”. Esta emocional canción tiene su propio outro titulado “Presence” que incluye algunas palabras habladas a las cuales hay que poner mucha atención para comprender el camino del disco. Se habla sobre la mortalidad, Anathema aún toca este tema típico de ellos, aunque desde otro sentido, la frase clave es:

“death is not the opposite of life, it’s the opposite of birth, life is eternal”

Esto contrasta con las frases de “Eternity” (1996) cuando Vicent cantaba lleno de ira:

“Do you think we are forever?
The unseen, the eternal river of understanding”

La parte hablada en “Presence” suena excelente en cuanto a la atmósfera generada por el disco. Una atmósfera muy personal, cálida y emocional. Las letras revelan el camino por el que han pasado los hermanos Cavanagh. Por ejemplo, en “A Simple Mistake” la banda expresa:

“I have found my way to fly free from the constraints of time
I have soared through the sky seen life far below in mind”

Esta canción es verdaderamente relajante, aunque incluye un muy buen cierre con algunos riffs. Sin embargo me hubiera gustado que conservara las palabras habladas que aparecían en la versión demo. Uno podría pensar que la banda afirma que el haber escrito canciones sobre suicidio, muerte y falta de esperanza fue un simple error, sentirse deprimido es un simple error… (mi humilde punto de vista). Y es que a los oídos de los fans doomsters de Anathema como yo, algunas frases del disco llegan a ser muy sorprendentes (y poco agradables). Una de las más descaradas está en “Get Off, Get Out”

“you got a big surprise coming your way”

Sin embargo, tengo que aceptar que “WAHBWAH” es un disco increíble. Es música de muy alta calidad, la atmósfera, los arreglos, los elementos de las canciones, la constante interacción con la voz femenina de Lee Douglas… No me queda más que aceptar a este nuevo Anathema y recomendarlo ampliamente. A pesar del cambio de sentido de la banda, no he oído una sola mala crítica, ni siquiera por parte de nosotros los doomsters. Cada disco de Anathema es distinto, pero todos son piezas maestras.

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