Monday 20 October 2014

Album Review - The Northern Lights, 'Dreamers'



The Northern Lights, '1984'


Info: It's early days but it looks like we may have the North American pretenders to France's M83 on our hands in California chillwave group The Northern Lights. Dreamers was released earlier this year in May and from the opener 'Night Drive', which evokes scenes from a John Hughes film, all the way to the final track, 'Dreamer', you're brought on a flamboyant journey through 80's heaven. The second track, 'You're A Dreamer', is one of the few to feature vocals, something that the band are promising a lot more of on their upcoming album which will be released in the winter, and has a lovely little guitar effect echoing throughout. Next up is '1984' (above) which is one of the best tracks I've heard this year, I've had it on loop for over a week now on their BandCamp page and it feels like it will be impossible to get sick of it, getting pulled across a sonic soundscape with those drums beating you around the head never felt better! Another zinger on the album for me is 'Elevation', guitars, synths and drums, everything is working here, check it out below. The album ends on a high note with 'Dreamer', benefiting from some nice strings toward the end of the track. I think it's a good thing that there will be more vocals on the new album, while it works a treat on Dreamers, a second release on the bounce with the same format might feel a bit samey. Overall, while short and sweet, this album is definitely marked for repeated listens and fills a precise desire one may have to just listen to some good contemporary synth-based music.



The Northern Lights, 'Elevation'


The lovely chaps in The Northern Lights are going to be giving me a heads up when the new album is finished and there'll be a review of it here on the blog, in the meantime, you can check out more music including a full stream of Dreamers here;

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