
Droning Radiohead influence intertwines with gentle, violin-spiced dissonance throughout Lionlimbโs โTape Recorderโ album.
Iโm a sucker for anything rock-leaning with violins in it, and much like my current fascination โLittle Tybee,โ the many incorporated elements in Lionlimbโs songs combine to beautiful effect.
Unlike Little Tybee, Lionlimb drift further out from major scales to satisfy our need for musical discomfort. The albumโs first track โCloverโ proves this quite clearly โ going full-on Gentle Giant in its Baroque bout of madness towards the end.
Madness verges on malice nearing the end of โMaria.โ A single key sets to chime like church bells in a chill. Thereโs a desolate dimension to the bandโs music that gives it all a Tim Burton-styled darkness.
Droning Radiohead influence intertwines with gentle, violin-spiced dissonance throughoutโฆ
โStar Mangled,โ in particular, instantly brings to mind a tune entitled โPatient is the Nightโ composed for mini-series Over the Garden Wall. Both are mellow with melancholy and a nearly meditative delight to listen to.
The albumโs titular track โTape Recorderโ is a solemn, piano-driven piece. The vocalist, by now familiar, breathes over the ballad, at times immersed in a sorrowful cloud of string portamento. All in all, thereโs a Dustin Oโ Halloran feel to it. At least, right up until it breaks off into a gallop of howling rhythm.
โSwallowโs Songโ is a bit too challenging for my taste โ taking the experimental facet of the albumโs sound up another notch. It plays like ghost music up until the end, where it does an about face into a more straightforward classical arrangement blanketed over rhythmic stabs as sharp as chip-tunes.
โVelvetโ wraps the album up with martial energy. Itโs big and bold as a marching band up to the halfway point, where it breaks down to a quieter, more unsettling composition before blowing away in a breeze of muted horns.
โTape Recorderโ is a neat and extremely interesting album to experience. Itโs likely to be quite unlike anything youโve ever listened to โ shimmering with nuanced note choices and a delicate balance of melancholy. What are your thoughts?
