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The Album Leaf is still a going concern. It
has been a long time (seven years) since i
last heard from them on 2016's Between
Waves and later during the tour
for that album, when i dragged the Girlfriend
(a known Deadhead) along to see them perform
at Terminal West. They did an excellent set of
complicated ambient pop to a mostly empty
club. And then it seems like the band faded
away....
But during the intervening years James
Lavelle (the only constant member of the band)
has been doing other things instead of working
on this act. Such as making ambient tracks for
the meditation app Calm.
Huh, that is the meditation app that i use. I
knew they had a music section, just like i
know they have a series of videos of LeBron
James teaching you about mindfulness in
basketball (or something like that), but i
have never explored those sections of the app
too fully. I just checked, and there is a 60
minute track from The Album Leaf in the app. I
guess that i will need to check that out at
some point...
Moving back to the focus of this review,
LaVelle is finally back with another album
from The Album Leaf. At this point, you should
know what you are getting into: layers of
synths moving in washes with light melodies.
Subtle beats that occasionally get a little
faster. Groovy ambient electronica for
listening, relaxing, doing whatever. I like
this kind of stuff on as i am working at my IT
day job.
That said, there are a few tracks that stand
out from the haze.
The first two i want to mention are notable
in that LaVelle has brought in two female
singers to collaborate with him. The first of
these, chronologically on the album is Afterglow
and it features vocals by Kimbra. You remember
her, right? She was someone that you used to
know, way back in 2011. Or maybe she was
someone Gotye used to know... At any rate,
here she is adding her clear voice to an Album
Leaf track. Synths burble and drums tap in a
subdued manner as Kimbra sings clearly and
slowly, her voice aching. A very nice addition
to what Lavelle is doing.
Later in the album comes Near, which
is listed as "featuring Bat for Lashes". I
find that interesting, as Bat For Lashes is
the solo project of a British singer named
Natasha Khan. I guess they use her act name
and not her actual name here, because people
are more likely to recognize that immediately.
At any rate, Khan sounds sort of like Kimbra,
at least vocally: a clear voice, breathy,
speaking the words for the most part and
singing lightly occasionally. And again, this
type of vocal goes well with the hazy synths
that Lavelle is working with. On this tune the
music is glitchier than on Afterglow.
With the clipped beats, i think it works
better with the vocals than the subtle
drumming used on Afterglow. But your
mileage will vary, and ultimately both are
very similar tunes.
The other eight tracks on the album are
non-vocal. Prologue, Breathe,
Give In, and Stride are pretty
much straight up Album Leaf tracks. I think
they could have fit on a previous album just
fine. These are the tracks you came here to
listen to.
On Cycles Lavelle takes a more
dub-like approach tot he music, and ends up
reminding me strongly of fellow ambient artist
Loscil. On Future Falling LaVelle
drives the song along with sparkling keyboard
line that reminds me of something from the
1980s, something that is just beyond the tip
of the tongue... And Epilogue ends the
albu8m with some nice horns, drifting off into
the distance.
And finally there is Dust Collects.
This starts with a clicking beat and a nice
keyboard bit, then grows to be kind of epic
with a real density to the sound. At about 3
minutes in, the music parts and a mournful
horn sounds through, before the song builds
back up again with layers of synths, strings,
guitars, a clicking beat. That little
interlude really makes the song shine. Very
nice.
If you like this sort of ambient pop, then
The Album Leaf continues to delight.
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