Feels - Father Name (EP Review)

The first thirteen seconds of "Misfortune Fingers," the first track off of Feels' EP, Father Name, will quickly make you think "what the fuck?" before transitioning seamlessly into an instrumental sequence that leaves you confused, yet yearning for more of what they've given to you. They deliver through and through, with the next utterance of lyrics haunted by repeated falsetto echoes. Feels knows the ins and outs of the element of surprise. Each song disjointed by multiple bridges of percussion interludes, organ riffs, or time signature shifts adds to the steadily increasing level of shock value each song compounds upon one another. And for more than a few of the tracks, after the main body of the song is finished, and after a short silence, another thirty seconds or minute of music is played that's only vaguely harmonically connected to the rest of the song. 

It feels like their music is as surprising to them as it is to us, in a comfortable and light-hearted way. It's the sort of EP that continually delivers on the sonic urges that inhabit our ears; where if you get a little bored with one riff, just give them ten seconds and they'll be sure to have changed the entire mood of the song, thrown you off kilter, and left you aching for some more boring stability.

Stability is one thing that Feels was not trying to achieve in Father Name. "Audibly Free Forever," the third track from the EP, starts with an endlessly modulating piano floating around and raising in pitch and rhythmic intention until landing on the instrumental hook that carries the rest of the song. Feels has a true "feel" for this sort of harmonic and rhythmic meander. Each song is a few different songs mashed into one, layered over one another, picking melodic lines from one and a rhythmic beat from another until the song has a world of its own with endless possibilities and a surprise around every corner.

Feels is a Grizzly Bear/Tame Impala crossbreed mixed with a splash of Pink Floyd. The turns of musical phrase in their EP Father Name are succinct, surprising, and worth a listen if you're willing to let this group of musicians confuse you for a few moments in each of their songs before picking you up, dusting you off, and leaving you with some sweet sounds resonating in your ears.

Alvvays - "Adult Diversion"

Summer brings smiles. The same can be said of music that takes the nuances of summer and inadvertently condenses them into a rhythm or a chord progression or a harmonic line. It becomes music that shimmers with sunshine and smells of sunscreen and melted ice cream. Upon first listening to "Adult Diversion,' one could imagine that Alvvays hails from an area of the world where summer reigns supreme, where cool vibes and Ray-Ban Warefarers are given out for free in the parking lots of every beach. However, not that Canada isn't nice, I doubt my imagined hometown is accurate. Still, that makes Alvvays more of an enigma than just a surfer-pop band born and raised by the Cali sun and surf.

Alvvays is cultivating that sun-and-surf, beachy, indie pop sound reminiscent of Best Coast, with a few more complex harmonies and chord changes. Fans of Washed Out and Real Estate will jive with the mood that Alvvays is setting. Also, even if you're just interested in how they sound, the video is worth a watch to get the full summer effect that Alvvays is capturing.

The merit of listening to music is that each person's imagination reacts differently to each song or piece that one hears, while still being able to consistently maintain the same general idea from person to person. So, regardless of what you imagine when you hear Alvvays' "Adult Diversion," you're bound to feel at least the slightest bit cool and breezy, if you're not already imagining yourself hitting the waves of Santa Cruz, California by the time the first verse starts.

It is summer in the Western hemisphere, so now's as good a time as any to tune into this song as well as their title album, "Alvvays", which is on sale July 21st in the UK and July 22nd in North America. Even if you're in a place where the weather is wintery and the surfboards are hidden away in the basement, consider this tune a little light of hope to brighten up your snowy day, and since ice cream doesn't always need to be eaten on the beach to be enjoyed, go grab yourself a bowl of it while this song is playing. Be careful, though-- the essence of summer kept inside "Adult Diversion" might melt your dessert before you have a chance to enjoy it.



*Keep up to date with Alvvays concert dates and new releases at their website, http://alvvays.com/

Cloudeater - 'Hollow'

Take steampunk and put a microphone in front of its mouth. Layer processed vocals pure as a 12-speed Schwinn bike, gears newly greased, over the soundtrack to what seems like an industrial power plant. In the first fifteen seconds, Atlanta-based Cloudeater makes it clear that “Hollow” will not be a song to be taken lightly. The mien of metal construction that is initially created does not last forever; in the last two minutes “Hollow” becomes not just a title, but the sonic manifestation of the song itself. “I stay empty, I feel the hunger,” repeats Sam Dew, lead singer of Cloudeater. But it feels estranged from the first time that he sang it, casually tossing it out as a piece of vapid poetic language. This time it’s a strident and helpless plea. Keep listening, and you’ll hear every line repeated from the first part of the song, but every line generating more energy than its predecessor. “Hollow” ends as its name suggests, repeating hollow again and again. A hollow reminder of what has been and subsequently what will never change. 

FKA Twigs - 'Water Me'

We all have wished to be to tall, haven't we?

FKA Twigs' vocals float over repetitive bass drones and long hummed tones hoping for this growth. Twigs spins a small but enrapturing story of lost love, personal narrative, and longing in "Water Me". The first 30 seconds revolve around the same pitch until the percussion comes in and directs the movement. The percussion is crisp but not overbearing; simply a reminder of the time that continues to pass no matter what the circumstances. The echoed backup vocals, also, add a cyclical element to the song. Twigs is stuck on this loss, recycling it in her brain, trying to make sense of it, trying to water the dying flower that she had previously cultivated with this person. The lyrics themselves are cyclical, being repeated. The repetition serves as a reiteration of her loss. There isn't a better way to remember that you're lonely than to say that you're lonely, and Twigs remembers it in such a way that she has to say it twice. "Water Me" explores the contradictions of love, of sex, and of all the shit that comes along with them. The dwelling. The longing. The memory. The hurt. And the acceptance, that after all of it, all you can do is hope someone will stick around to water you, and watch you grow tall, like you always wished you would.