A recent album release from 8mm has a unique approach to blending in elements of alternative and dream pop as the record produces these vast underbellies and gorgeous textures that seemingly come from surprising places but build into a lush cinematic soundscape a lot of the time.
The record wastes very little time coming at you with this approach with its first and title-track "Black Cat" which is a very expansive feeling single.
The song is a slow burn but a beautiful one as it builds an intensity the further you go. This is a perfect introduction to the record because it does portray some of the haunts that the album delivers along with some of the edgy undertones that come through strewn throughout the album but, there are plenty of surprises around its corners as well.
The deeper into the record you go you start hearing all kinds of other influences unfold. You have more of a floating and drifting feel and approach with pop-coated colors that shine through with outstanding vocal Melodies and this brilliantly experimental tonality coming from the synths and keys.
One of my favorite tracks on the record is called "Need You Tonight" which portrays some of the edgier approaches but does so in such a unique fashion. This song has a great build and percussion. This gives the song an amazing drive. It also gets more intense vocally, and instead of getting this floaty and subtle approach, you start getting more intensity coming from the singing.
This is one of the best builds on the record, if you ask me, and it never loses the spacious atmosphere it creates.
That atmosphere is a staple throughout the record and a good one at that.
Listening to one or two songs can give you an idea of what you may expect but will not give you anywhere near the full spectrum of what the album has to offer as a whole.
Because of that, along with a few other things, this album should be listened to in full. Listening to the entire record from beginning to end is like an escape.
You will no longer be in your own world. You will be in theirs which is something you have to shake off by the time you get to the end of the record.
There's something beautifully organic about the natural and forward-moving flows that this album gives off and can grab hold and drift right alongside those.
It's an absolutely beautiful aesthetic right from the start and you're able to paint certain pictures in your head from some of the lyrics along with really taking in all these wondrous textures and layers that are happening throughout the record.
This is a big release. A lot is going on and no two songs are alike.
Again, some staples hold true throughout the album but, there are a lot of things you pick up on the second time around. Things that you missed the first time you listened because you were either paying too much attention to that atmosphere or to those lyrics.
The vocal approach is wonderful simply because she puts heart and soul into her performance and it feels almost theatrical in a sense.
The entire thing is massively cinematic but her vocals come through with that more theatrical feel and bear in mind some of that added edginess that lurks just beneath the surface.
She has things to say and stories to tell. Sometimes she does that with a lot of description.
Loads of pianos, strings, and orchestral synths are used to give a more full-bodied feel, and again, those layers come at you from all angles.
Of course, some great guitars that float around, scattered about throughout the record, and this whole experience you get listening to this thing that stays with you for days after it's all ended.
This was an in-depth and unique record that provided so much to soak in that I suggest doing it with headphones because it's one of the only ways to do it properly.
If you listen with headphones, you can actually soak in the textures I mentioned earlier.
Most importantly, this record has personality and character. That is something else that stays no matter what. It's one of the aspects you get attached to from the very first track through the last.
This is an album that swims around in the air that surrounds you and takes you by surprise at random.
Try and listen to this one from start to finish because it's worth it and remember where you heard it first.
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