School of Seven Bells – Disconnect from Desire (Full Time Hobby)
4/5
By: Chris Jones
If the Buddhist connotations of disconnecting from desire are anything to go by, this album is intended to go nowhere near what can sometimes be a frustratingly benign music scene, and the Brooklyn outfit achieve that distance with ease.
The album opens with a haunting, echoing ‘Windstorm’, the soothing vocals and lyrics from the Deheza sisters evoking the elements and stating the albums clearly fantastical take on reality, where love, regret and resilience create an eerie playground. Disconnect From Desire is characteristically ethereal and very School of Seven Bells, but in terms of pop standing, it’s more polished than their first LP Alpinisms. The drums are central to this poppier feel - accomplished throughout, they provide an aspect to the album that is easier on the ear than the complex ideas expressed through the lyrics.
But such complex themes, formed through the craftsmanship of the entire band working stunningly as a unit, are what build such a fine retreat for the listener from the haste, schedules and responsibilities of the real world. With one retrospective eye on tragedy and one eye on the strength gained from enduring it, Disconnect From Desire becomes more interesting with every listen. It’s an album packed with infinitely personal messages that provide an escapism that never fails to haunt, often beautifully. Appreciating the lyrics cannot be done without the guitar that acts as if in conversation; making astute perceptions and giving compliments at the right times.
The layered synths and adamant drums really give a weight to the pouring sentiment across this album, anchoring it somehow, allowing it the freedom to move in melancholic disorientation while remaining direct and purposeful. The poetry of School of Seven Bells consists in managing to balance anguished electronic contortions with overarching melodies, creating a sense of simultaneous discord and harmony. This duality is central to their ability to haunt you, while still getting you moving. Constantly stretching genre boundaries and those of your imagination, they’ve created a delicacy of form, style and sentiment that is insistently dreamy throughout.
Artists in this article: School of Seven Bells
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