ODAWAS- The Blue Depths
5/10

During a film the music often rushes at you, in bursts of romantic energy and in powerful rage. ODAWAS’ rushes at you the entire time; the whole eight song experience is like sitting through an intense film, where the main characters are slowly falling out of love and into other people’s arms. Sadly this isn’t a soundtrack to a romantic drama, it’s the band’s third album on the Jagjaguwar label, home to other such artists as Bon Iver and Okkervil River. Originally from Indiana, the band now lives in Berkeley, California. The album however was recorded in Chicago, during what has been described as one of the coldest winters in decades. The album perhaps reflects this, with an icy coating making the music sound cold and far away from reality. Packed full of reverb, The Blue Depths takes atmospheric music to a whole new level, building layer upon layer of drifting ambient noise and overlaying it with a clear pop sound. There’s murmuring instruments in all directions, but at times it’s far too dense, cracking at your skull like a pick axe. Perhaps buried beneath all the reverb is a beautiful pop tune, there’s evidence of it on ‘Moonlight/Twist’ when the layers are stripped away and the individual instruments shine. But otherwise it sounds like cinematic music, frozen in time waiting for the next big Hollywood natural disaster film to be tragically turned into a pretentious love story. ODAWAS know what they are doing and in the right setting it would sound beautiful, but strung together on an eight track album it’s a bore.
Nick

 

Posted by Nick Fulton under Album, Reviews
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