Review Summary: A creative venture from a relatively unknown 6 piece from Australia.
Elora Danan are a 6 piece band from Perth, Australia.
Although ‘In The Room Up There’ is Elora Danan’s first and last release, it is one that marks a sure statement of the bands endless potential, which largely now remains unfulfilled. With this release Elora Danan manage to establish their unique brand of alternative rock/ Post Hardcore hinted at on their EP ‘We All Have Secrets...’.
Firstly, Elora Danan's main selling point is the eccentric yet ambient leads of guitars evident in all their songs. The guitars seem to float endlessly, and the guitarists seem to know how to match a variety of effects with a sense of restraint and rhythm. Each guitarist also knows how to play their own leads whilst still conforming to the overall sound of each song, which is great to listen to.
‘In the Room up There’ manages to explore topics such as faith and religion with maturity and focus. Greens lyrics verge between being accessible and being cryptic, with seemingly ‘Lost’ references thrown in. Die-hard ‘Lost’ fans would recognise song titles such as ‘live together, die alone’ and the opener and closer two punch ‘Man of science’, ‘Man of faith’ as references to their favourite show. Green also explores ideas of religion vs. reality through lines like ‘They will find us staring down, the walls in which we find ourselves’ and ‘If belief is all we stand for, then reason’s out the door’. On ‘Ten Bucks Says It’s a Metaphor’ For a single moment the band drops out of the drowning ambience where vocalist George Green wails ‘don’t believe in what you read, believe what you see’ and the band comes crashing back in, which is another highlight of the album. On this record, Green proves himself a thought-provoking and interesting lyricist.
That being said Green also has a fair set of pipes – whilst not boasting a massive range, his voice sounds rounded and powerful, commanding other instruments to fall in suit. Take for example the song Sinking always Sinking, where towards the end of the song Green exclaims ‘could you sacrifice yourself, to save the ones you loooooovveee!’ which is one of the best parts of the album.
This record is also extremely balanced. Although having three guitarists in a band gives you the impression there will be a massive wall of guitar noise, Elora Danan avoid this by emphasising the bass and vocal tracks. The bass is extremely interesting; stuttering and spluttering through each track, adding a nice bottom end to their sound. Drumming is also particularly creative on this record, opting for simplistic hi-hat/snare combinations that complement the music nicely and allow breathable structures for the guitars to go over.
Unfortunately, after the release of this record, Elora Danan decidedly called it quits and went their separate ways. However, ‘In the room up there’ will stand as a remarkable achievement for a band who had only just began to gain recognition and popularity, and who were fairly new to the industry.
