Wednesday 25 July 2012

Twin Shadow - Confess (2012)

Confess (2012)


Me & friends with George Lewis Jnr., aka Twin Shadow, Crawdaddy, Dublin, 2011
Twin Shadow performing in Crawdaddy venue, Dublin, 2011


Artist: Twin Shadow
Album: Confess
Rate Your Music (RYM) rating: 3.31/5
My Rating: ****
Best Tracks: Five Seconds, Run My Heart, The One
About Twin Shadow: George Lewis Jnr. was born in the Dominican Republic and grew up in Florida, in 2006 he moved to Brooklyn, New York after brief spells with various bands in Boston, changing his stage name to Twin Shadow. In 2010 he released his first album Forget, produced by Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor, and in October that year Twin Shadow were named one of Rolling Stone magazine's Band of the Week. Key tracks from that album worth checking out are Forget and Castles Made of Snow. 
About Confess: The music is very 80's synths and guitar. On this particular album, Confess, track Run My Heart, we get a Bruce Springsteen sounding intro very similar to I'm On Fire from Born in the U.S.A.. Then on The One there seems to be a wonderful mash-up of The Smiths and The Cure, whilst track 7, Patient, could easily have been included on a Prince album circa 1985. While there has been many 80's sounding artists and bands over the last 5 or 6 years, various critics have stated that Twin Shadow stands out as also being refreshing and modern on his own merit. I was a big fan of his first album, however, after only 3 or 4 listens, Confess seems to be a big improvement and highly recommended.

And don't just take my word for it:

CD of the Week - The Sunday Times
"Terrific." - The Observer 
"Pop music where the bad guy wins." - Pitchfork (8.6 - Best New Music)
“A brilliant selection of songs about spilling your romantic beans.” - Time Out (4/5) 
"These tunes blaze brilliantly and briefly, just like a brat pack love story." - Metro (4/5)