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Bella Union records is currently engaged in a series of releasing
7 albums of 7 instrumental tracks a piece. They are calling
this "Series 7", and Jetlag Dreams is installment
4.
I have enjoyed the series to date, but i was not too impressed
with the last Departure Lounge
album. However, what i really didn't like about that disc
was the totally generic "pop" nature of the vocals.
How would Departure Lounge do as an instrumental act?
The answer is "amazingly well". Jetlag Dreams
is 7 dreamy songs of wonderful lite piano based pop. I honestly
can find nothing wrong with it's simple yet lovely keyboard
melodies.
Technically, there is nothing new on this album. It's all been
done before, i know. Take a piano, play a light arpeggio, someone
hits a bass note in the background, and a low keyboard drone
starts up, only to be followed by some brushed drumming.
It's a tried and true formula, and somehow Departure Lounge
seem to pull it off with amazing agility. The album feels almost
organic -- as if, rather than setting out to write 7 instrumental
pop tunes, Departure Lounge took their instruments into the
studio, and just played. And this is the result. If there was
a horn i would say that it was jazzy.
All of the tunes on here follow a certain pattern: a piano
lays down a main melody, an organ plays a low drone underneath,
a guitar plays a quiet accompaniment, a bass slowly progresses
through some notes, and a drum kit is quietly brushed in the
background. Slow, steady, and really lovely.
Oh sure, there are some differences. Equestrian Skydiving
sounds like there is a theremin thrown into the mix. Purple
Fluffy Haze has an acoustic rather than electric guitar
for a nice pace changing effect. A Strange Descent has
tremolo on the guitar and some sort of vibraphone, making what
is indeed an eerie and strange sound. Etc. I could point out
some little tweak on each song, if i wanted.
But that's not really important. What is important is that
Departure Lounge have crafted an excellent series of instrumental
tunes.
So, if you like the sound of the piano, this is definitely
a recommended album.
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