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| Track list: 1. Let Me Know 2. Awake 3. The Three of Us 4. Daylight 5. Blood Speaks 6. Take Me Down When You Go 7. Feel It Coming Near 8. Hideaway 9. Version of the Future 10. Film Reel Running time: 43 minutes Released: 2012 |
Hmm, I guess it must be three years since I last went to a festival then, if this came out in 2012. I say that, because I am pretty sure I picked this up of the back of Latitude that year, and a quick Google suggests - thanks to preservations of the lineup - that I am right. God, that makes me feel old.
The musical structure that kicks us off is interesting, lush rounded sounds that sound pretty good this Sunday morning. Alas it is spoiled some when the vocal comes in and obliterates the fullness, puncturing it by dominating and, in my opinion, not fitting with what was there at all. When the track returns to instrumental the interest returns; completely frustrating this, there is a lot to like but it is placed behind a screen of disinterest. Is that going to be a pattern?
The vocal is less immediately irritating on Awake, so hopefully it was a specific confluence of factors. Here the loopy themes are integrated better with the voice, at least until the two singers harmonise - then they push out the accompaniment again. Normally I like a good harmony but here I don't feel either of the singing voices on exhibit are particularly good. I am definitely more drawn to the atmospheric guitars, wrapping around like smoke in a burning room, enveloping the ear, so things that detract from that are damaging to my appreciation of the track. This is definitely better than Let Me Know, though so there is hope.
Engaging guitar swells are the defining feature here. It isn't something that normally grabs me, but there is something attractive about these riffs. There is something PJ Harvey-like about The Three of Us and it is better again. If each track continues to improve on the last, by the end of the disc it will be seriously good. I find myself listening more closely, and then pull back to the observer's view that allows me to type as well. The reason? The interest falls down on closer scrutiny - there is too much repetition in the structuring of the lines to stand a determined inspection, but the fact the atmosphere is created by repeats is secondary to the nature of the atmosphere itself on first contact. I prefer the latter position here.
The pattern of constant improvement is broken, alas. Daylight is so utterly bland that my mind wanders off and by the time I re-focus to start describing why I dislike it it has finished and I never have to listen to it again. The title track also does not grab me much - it seems to have ditched the strongest parts of the earlier songs, putting far more emphasis on the vocals. It does manage to create a bit of tone, a full shimmering sound accompanies the lyrics, but I can't escape the fact that I really don't rate either of the Smoke Fairies as singers when the vocal is placed so front and centre as it is here. That it then descends into repeating one (nonsensical) line over and over just seals its fate. Get out! At least the hooks come back when it ends, but I wonder if this couplet have soured me.
I'm sat here with a peppermint tea in dirty (painting) clothes. Not because I have been or will be painting, but because today is all about cleaning. This listen was supposed to be my "me time" - to make me feel human between extracting myself from my bed and getting on with the business of the day. I could have done with a positive impression to kickstart the chores but so far I am cutting more than I shall keep. There are little nuggets of pleasantness in and around these tunes and I can see why I might have enjoyed a live set and been prompted to pick it up, but there are too many low points to go along with that and since The Three of Us those weaker moments have overrun and outnumbered the positives. Tracks four through seven all for the chop.
I feel like Hideaway is the album in a nutshell. Interestingly rich guitar gives brief hope to begin with, then a voice stretched way past its ability to be musical tramps in and ruins all sense of enjoyment. The track then evolves and the voice integrates better as it goes, but so does the interest in the tune wane. Ultimately it is a disappointment. I could get a similar vibe from Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea without the weak points. Much as I love that album, not many things make me actively think "I wish I was listening to PJ instead".
I am more enamoured of Version of the Future for some reason. The track just holds together a little better I think - the vocal is much improved and whilst we don't have the warm enveloping richness in the backing that we had on the early tracks there is just enough there to give it a sense of place and purpose. The improvement in the singing is unreal - earlier it felt like they were straining, aiming at some kind of waifish vision, haunting. Here its a much more "normal" singing voice and suddenly it doesn't annoy me or try to be something it isn't. Alas they don't persist in that vain and the ethereal attempts are restored for the final track, and with it my sense of being let down. The atmosphere is "nice" on Film Reel, but it is uncontextualised noodling which means it feels like a teenager sat in their room feeling sorry for themselves more than something that should actually have been recorded. This purchase was a mistake.
The musical structure that kicks us off is interesting, lush rounded sounds that sound pretty good this Sunday morning. Alas it is spoiled some when the vocal comes in and obliterates the fullness, puncturing it by dominating and, in my opinion, not fitting with what was there at all. When the track returns to instrumental the interest returns; completely frustrating this, there is a lot to like but it is placed behind a screen of disinterest. Is that going to be a pattern?
The vocal is less immediately irritating on Awake, so hopefully it was a specific confluence of factors. Here the loopy themes are integrated better with the voice, at least until the two singers harmonise - then they push out the accompaniment again. Normally I like a good harmony but here I don't feel either of the singing voices on exhibit are particularly good. I am definitely more drawn to the atmospheric guitars, wrapping around like smoke in a burning room, enveloping the ear, so things that detract from that are damaging to my appreciation of the track. This is definitely better than Let Me Know, though so there is hope.
Engaging guitar swells are the defining feature here. It isn't something that normally grabs me, but there is something attractive about these riffs. There is something PJ Harvey-like about The Three of Us and it is better again. If each track continues to improve on the last, by the end of the disc it will be seriously good. I find myself listening more closely, and then pull back to the observer's view that allows me to type as well. The reason? The interest falls down on closer scrutiny - there is too much repetition in the structuring of the lines to stand a determined inspection, but the fact the atmosphere is created by repeats is secondary to the nature of the atmosphere itself on first contact. I prefer the latter position here.
The pattern of constant improvement is broken, alas. Daylight is so utterly bland that my mind wanders off and by the time I re-focus to start describing why I dislike it it has finished and I never have to listen to it again. The title track also does not grab me much - it seems to have ditched the strongest parts of the earlier songs, putting far more emphasis on the vocals. It does manage to create a bit of tone, a full shimmering sound accompanies the lyrics, but I can't escape the fact that I really don't rate either of the Smoke Fairies as singers when the vocal is placed so front and centre as it is here. That it then descends into repeating one (nonsensical) line over and over just seals its fate. Get out! At least the hooks come back when it ends, but I wonder if this couplet have soured me.
I'm sat here with a peppermint tea in dirty (painting) clothes. Not because I have been or will be painting, but because today is all about cleaning. This listen was supposed to be my "me time" - to make me feel human between extracting myself from my bed and getting on with the business of the day. I could have done with a positive impression to kickstart the chores but so far I am cutting more than I shall keep. There are little nuggets of pleasantness in and around these tunes and I can see why I might have enjoyed a live set and been prompted to pick it up, but there are too many low points to go along with that and since The Three of Us those weaker moments have overrun and outnumbered the positives. Tracks four through seven all for the chop.
I feel like Hideaway is the album in a nutshell. Interestingly rich guitar gives brief hope to begin with, then a voice stretched way past its ability to be musical tramps in and ruins all sense of enjoyment. The track then evolves and the voice integrates better as it goes, but so does the interest in the tune wane. Ultimately it is a disappointment. I could get a similar vibe from Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea without the weak points. Much as I love that album, not many things make me actively think "I wish I was listening to PJ instead".
I am more enamoured of Version of the Future for some reason. The track just holds together a little better I think - the vocal is much improved and whilst we don't have the warm enveloping richness in the backing that we had on the early tracks there is just enough there to give it a sense of place and purpose. The improvement in the singing is unreal - earlier it felt like they were straining, aiming at some kind of waifish vision, haunting. Here its a much more "normal" singing voice and suddenly it doesn't annoy me or try to be something it isn't. Alas they don't persist in that vain and the ethereal attempts are restored for the final track, and with it my sense of being let down. The atmosphere is "nice" on Film Reel, but it is uncontextualised noodling which means it feels like a teenager sat in their room feeling sorry for themselves more than something that should actually have been recorded. This purchase was a mistake.
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