Album Review - Dry The River

Shallow Bed has more biblical references than Ned Flanders on sunday.

"I pray for your health, and I tell myself, it's the chambers and the valves that pump the sentiment around, but I swallow the words, and I close my mouth" - Dry The River

If you have read my 'Take A Chance On: Dry The River' post then you will know that Dry The River are already in a good position, in my opinion, for this review. I have genuinely fallen in love with this band from the get go because of the tracks they have released through their singles and E.P's. With the release of the album on the horizon, I was in a little bit of a nervous disposition. Would the Album deliver like the singles? Or had Dry The River released their best stuff early to set us all up for disappointment. 

Well, thankfully, my fears were laid to rest immediately when 'Shallow Bed' played through my headphones. The album was a complete joy to listen to and so far, since it's release, I haven't played anything else. It's mix of slow and upbeat tracks, biblical and sentimental lyrics and luscious rhythm and orchestral sounds completely took my breath away. Dry The River have struck gold with their debut album and capture your attention from the very first note. 

Track Listing:

1. Animal Skins
2. New Ceremony
3. Shield Your Eyes
4. History Book
5. The Chambers & The Valves
6. Demons
7. Bible Belt
8. No Rest
9. Shaker Hymns
10. Lion's Den
11. Weights & Measures
12. Family

The album starts with an upbeat three tracks. Animal Skins, New Ceremony and Shield Your Eyes start off with such a beautiful and energetic start, you almost wonder if it's worth listening to the rest. (It is, I assure you). New Ceremony in particular demonstrates Pete Liddle's incredible vocal range as he starts off with a slow wispy voice, to belting out notes that would blow a roof off a church. The Album, after working up your appetite, soon calms you down with the more mellow songs such as History Book, Demons and Bible Belt. Which show the bands ability to craft beautiful melodies and intuitive sentences. The blend of folk-rock instruments mixed with biblical sounds and orchestral influence creates an innocent and powerful melody that the band portrays differently in each song. The lyrics nestle in your head, whilst the large sounds run through your blood as you tap them out subconsciously. The band hold your attention with their simplicity in making the beautiful sound seem as delicate as snow flakes. You simply feel like the music flows right through you. 

Shallow Bed, at it's core, is a folk-rock album that manages to capture the attention of all that listen to it. For a debut album, Dry The River have really managed to make something thoughtful and fantastic. The songs seem patient and un-rushed, as if the band really thought about what they were doing, rather than just being eager to produce an album, which is refreshing to see. I have high hopes for Dry The River, I'm off to see them in Nottingham in April, and I'm sure I'll write something about the performance soon after. But I feel I could be watching them perform in a church, organist at the ready, let alone a small dark room. Yet there's something about the band that leads you to believe they would fit right in to both scenarios. Dry The River are one of those bands that you are always going to want to come back to, simply because, you realise, as you you listen to their songs, they are much more beautiful than the last time you listened to them. 

'Shallow Bed' is available now on iTunes for £6.99

Review - Foster The People

"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything." - Plato

Foster the People's 'Torches', is a celebration of everything music should be. It's full of soul, joy, happiness and most of all a fluent rhythm that makes you close your eyes and forget about the world around you. 

Foster the People have made a lasting impression on the music industry with their first record "Torches". Not only is it a great feat for the band, but the fact that Foster the People have only been together for two short years highlights the glory and passion that seeps through the headphones by the bucket-load. The album not only has a beautiful upbeat-ness to it, but "Torches" could quite easily be listened to in a comfortable arm chair next to a fire place. 

Since Mark Foster founded the band in 2009, Foster the People have done nothing but climb the music industry ladder. They found success when their single "Pumped Up Kicks", (which features on the album) went viral on the internet. The song gathered the attention necessary for Foster the People to start playing small gigs and building a fan-base before finally taking part in festivals such as Coachella and South by Southwest. It was in June 2011 when Foster The People released "Torches" and arguably created the best Indie pop album that year. 

Torches is an album that boasts personality from the get go. The song "Helena Beat" which pumps through the headphones as the first track is one of the best openings to any album I have ever heard. I've always been a strong believer that music should catch your attention from the very start, otherwise you'll be left disappointed, and Torches is a prime example of this. The album slaps you in the face with it's electronic pop and then rubs the pain away with it's soothing tunes, charming quaintness and beautiful lyrics. "What's your style and who do you listen to? Who cares" is a personal favorite line of mine, which doesn't need explaining. Not only are songs such a "Call It What You Want", "Waste" and "Life On The Nickel" lyrically amazing, but they are songs likely to make you smile and think of somebody close to you. The album shows great balance with it's fast paced songs, to it's laid back ones and never fails to be interesting. The second half of the album itself seems almost experimental, like Foster The People didn't want to keep repeating themselves and want to keep their audience guessing. It's an album that you could listen to on constant repeat, and find something new on each play through.

As for the album artwork, well it's quite brilliant. It screams the styling of different pop culture references from "Where the Wild Things Are" to "Domo". It's simplicity and lack of colour represent the album. Being the first record of the group, it is like Foster the People had a blank canvas to create what they wanted and the flames in the album artwork simply represent the warmth that this album creates. Also, the vast amount of different characters and their shapes, I feel, represent the songs on the album. No two songs are alike, and each song comes with it's own personality and style that will leave you in a difficult position in trying to choose your favourite. 

Overall I would say Foster the People's album is a huge success, that isn't to say it's without it's flaws. Some might argue that it's quite out-dated, bands like MGMT have done this genre to death already. But I think Foster The People take the genre into their own hands and shape it their own way, giving it a different feel and vibe compared to similar sounds of other indie electronic bands. Foster the People show great talent and determination in their album and present their music in such a unique way, which is both innocent and beautiful, truly beautiful.