RADIO SWAN IS DOWN

Laura was one of the most talked about post-rock bands in the past year with their slightly different take on their music. The formulaic sound that many (not all) bands from the genre have is nowhere to be seen in this album, and what a wonderful sight that is!

I've never been this exited about an album from the genre since last year's Enjoy Eternal Bliss by Yndi Halda. Although there's clearly a big difference in their sound. While in my eyes Yndi Halda managed to improve and perfect the clichés about the genre making it look like a it was 2002 all over again, Laura on the other hand are in the vanguard of the genre slowly breaking new walls and opening new paths for other bands to follow.

The instrumentation is still common using the guitars as the forefront of their sound while vibraphones, violins, piano ect. help to make their sound as full as possible. The difference is in how they use it. As I said earlier, and probably be saying in the rest of the review, they don't follow any pattern already made by previous bands so this makes the album a nice varied experience. There isn't a single song that sound alike to another, but still it doesn't sound like a mish mash of sounds and its always focused (a thing which many people feel bands from the genre lack). The songs aren't long and they don't overstay their welcome. There's a different variety of themes in the songs all which make the album vary in emotions as well. As we all know post-rock bands are more concerned about making you feel rather than anything else and Laura isn't the exception. From love to hate, to despair, to joy, to anger, to nostalgia, you name it Laura pretty much covers it with its eleven songs and hour and four minutes of running time. My favorite song from the album is the breathtaking "I Hope". I can't really express my feelings I get when listening to this song. It's one of the three songs that uses vocals and the vocals are what makes this song what it is: simply wonderful. There's a bit of a problem though. The album has it's high quality material up front and by the end of the album the difference can be clearly felt with the only exception being the last song. But don't make this comment slow you down, this is still one of the best releases of the last year and one of the better albums from the genre.

At the end of the day you'll get an overall excellent album with very little drawbacks and a nice well needed distinctive sound. I strongly recommend this album for fans of melodic prog and post-rock fans in need of a new and refreshing sound.

4.5

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