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| Track List: 1. New Topia 2. Dustism 3. Serpent Mound 4. War Prayer 5. The Puritan 6. Mother Opiate 7. Invitation 8. Memory Loss 9. God's Teeth Running time: 46 minutes Released: 2014 |
Its been a long time since the last update; some busy days, evenings and also Dragon Age: Inquisition have got in the way. It's not a wobble in commitment yet, just a question of finding time and energy.
To end the drought, another album from the current year - see I do still buy music! TWDY (too much effort to type out their name every time) are one of two post-rock groups from whom I have picked up albums in the last couple of months - Jakob's Sines being the other one.
To end the drought, another album from the current year - see I do still buy music! TWDY (too much effort to type out their name every time) are one of two post-rock groups from whom I have picked up albums in the last couple of months - Jakob's Sines being the other one.
I am not (I almost typed was not, but in truth I have not listened to this enough yet to put it into the past tense) really sure what I expect from this album. Probably something solid but unspectacular. I have, in fact, deliberately avoided listening to it in the car because it was coming up fairly soon on here... which means it has basically been sat here for a couple of months with no attention. Deliberately not listening so that I could listen, but then not listening. Confused? I am. Despite being a little on the tired side, it is over a week now, so I am going to press on with this.
New Topia opens very differently to what I was expecting. It is sparse and spacey for a good minute before the more anticipated guitar melodies arrive. It retains that more open aspect even thereafter, even after it all kicks off there is a vastness about the sound, lent by long sustained notes behind the frenetic core. I do not like that core much though, and I am glad when the track closes. Dustism (odd title) is much more what I would have expected in terms of structure. It is more open, again, but melodic in a way that reminds me of tracks from their self-titled album. This is very pleasant but ultimately no particularly engaging. A nice accompaniment to some other activity - but not music I really want to just sit here and listen to. Just as I type that, the flux of the song brings it more body, and with it more interest, without fundamentally changing the overall effect of the track and as that swell takes us to the end of the music I feel it won me around.
I am starting to get the feeling that this album will be what I expected. It is far too early to say that for sure, but the third song has now started with a similar sort of opening, though as it proceeds it remains too empty to really conform to the template. Something of a nothing track, until it "breaks up" and suddenly gains a body. I am not a fan of the "break up" effect; it makes me wonder if my disc was scratched or something. I am not much of a fan of this track either as the emptiness was replaced with cacophony rather than a sound I can appreciate.
The fourth track is called "War Prayer" - that is a fairly big (and maybe ill-advised) statement in the modern world. It does not live up to that from the outset, but with 7 minutes to run it has plenty of chance to find its feet and start belting out devotionals. There is a moodiness about this track that is fitting and it is building steadily; probably the most compelling tune so far. About half way through the rumbling building comes crashing down, leaving an eeriness. Unfortunate, because it seems to have killed the interest in doing so. The change up was not unwelcome, but the lack of anything substantial to follow in the next couple of minutes was. It comes alive again for the final minute, but the spark has gone and this is a hollow husk of what could have been. The longest track on the disc gives way to the shortest, which is making me think of someone I cannot quite drag a name out for. Frustrating! It is all open, empty, but warmly so. Surprisingly this is the best track so far, perhaps because it does not outstay its welcome.
My impressions thus far are not favourable. This album feels too wishy-washy, no one thing. There is a lot of sparse "big sky" craft but it lacks the invention to make that work, the subtleties in the space. I would say the album is about 90% background with a paltry 10% of the effort in the foreground demanding your time. It is imbalanced and thus not grabbing me. Maybe this move to ambient sounds over a stronger melody is what they reference with the title, but I doubt it.
Invitation has a bit more weight to it, which is good, but a lot of that weight is comprised of a drum loop that is a bit too prominent for my ear, which is not - like someone burst firing a machine pistol with a silencer in a tank full of water. OK, my simile is a bit of a stretch. I liked the rest of the craft on that track though, and whilst is recedes into the sleepy waters that made up the opening three quarters of the disc, Memory Loss has a little more depth, making it quite enjoyable. It is emphasizing the tiredness I am feeling, though... the consistency of the sound, the slow pace - I feel my eyelids drooping.
Only one track to go. If nothing else, this has kept me up until a point I can reasonably crash out and stamped on any desire to make ill-advised purchases or get sucked in to anything else at this time of night. At this point that is pretty much the best thing I have to say for listening to TWDY's latest work, but it does not represent a fair reading. Overall I have been disappointed in Another Language but not enough for me to cull it yet. Having bought it, I should give it a few listens at least so it can bed in. Maybe on Monday's commute. As I said earlier, I think it might be better as background to other activity and driving offers that. Quite apart from the fact that it does often take a few listens to really appreciate something.
Edit 2 Dec 2014: after keeping this album playing out and back the last two days (3 full plays) whilst commuting it has not grown on me any. I like The Puritan, still, but the other tracks leave me with... nothing, suggesting that as a whole it singularly failed to engage me. Which is a shame.
New Topia opens very differently to what I was expecting. It is sparse and spacey for a good minute before the more anticipated guitar melodies arrive. It retains that more open aspect even thereafter, even after it all kicks off there is a vastness about the sound, lent by long sustained notes behind the frenetic core. I do not like that core much though, and I am glad when the track closes. Dustism (odd title) is much more what I would have expected in terms of structure. It is more open, again, but melodic in a way that reminds me of tracks from their self-titled album. This is very pleasant but ultimately no particularly engaging. A nice accompaniment to some other activity - but not music I really want to just sit here and listen to. Just as I type that, the flux of the song brings it more body, and with it more interest, without fundamentally changing the overall effect of the track and as that swell takes us to the end of the music I feel it won me around.
I am starting to get the feeling that this album will be what I expected. It is far too early to say that for sure, but the third song has now started with a similar sort of opening, though as it proceeds it remains too empty to really conform to the template. Something of a nothing track, until it "breaks up" and suddenly gains a body. I am not a fan of the "break up" effect; it makes me wonder if my disc was scratched or something. I am not much of a fan of this track either as the emptiness was replaced with cacophony rather than a sound I can appreciate.
The fourth track is called "War Prayer" - that is a fairly big (and maybe ill-advised) statement in the modern world. It does not live up to that from the outset, but with 7 minutes to run it has plenty of chance to find its feet and start belting out devotionals. There is a moodiness about this track that is fitting and it is building steadily; probably the most compelling tune so far. About half way through the rumbling building comes crashing down, leaving an eeriness. Unfortunate, because it seems to have killed the interest in doing so. The change up was not unwelcome, but the lack of anything substantial to follow in the next couple of minutes was. It comes alive again for the final minute, but the spark has gone and this is a hollow husk of what could have been. The longest track on the disc gives way to the shortest, which is making me think of someone I cannot quite drag a name out for. Frustrating! It is all open, empty, but warmly so. Surprisingly this is the best track so far, perhaps because it does not outstay its welcome.
My impressions thus far are not favourable. This album feels too wishy-washy, no one thing. There is a lot of sparse "big sky" craft but it lacks the invention to make that work, the subtleties in the space. I would say the album is about 90% background with a paltry 10% of the effort in the foreground demanding your time. It is imbalanced and thus not grabbing me. Maybe this move to ambient sounds over a stronger melody is what they reference with the title, but I doubt it.
Invitation has a bit more weight to it, which is good, but a lot of that weight is comprised of a drum loop that is a bit too prominent for my ear, which is not - like someone burst firing a machine pistol with a silencer in a tank full of water. OK, my simile is a bit of a stretch. I liked the rest of the craft on that track though, and whilst is recedes into the sleepy waters that made up the opening three quarters of the disc, Memory Loss has a little more depth, making it quite enjoyable. It is emphasizing the tiredness I am feeling, though... the consistency of the sound, the slow pace - I feel my eyelids drooping.
Only one track to go. If nothing else, this has kept me up until a point I can reasonably crash out and stamped on any desire to make ill-advised purchases or get sucked in to anything else at this time of night. At this point that is pretty much the best thing I have to say for listening to TWDY's latest work, but it does not represent a fair reading. Overall I have been disappointed in Another Language but not enough for me to cull it yet. Having bought it, I should give it a few listens at least so it can bed in. Maybe on Monday's commute. As I said earlier, I think it might be better as background to other activity and driving offers that. Quite apart from the fact that it does often take a few listens to really appreciate something.
Edit 2 Dec 2014: after keeping this album playing out and back the last two days (3 full plays) whilst commuting it has not grown on me any. I like The Puritan, still, but the other tracks leave me with... nothing, suggesting that as a whole it singularly failed to engage me. Which is a shame.
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