Review Summary: Beautiful album that has a ton of replay ability, but lacks the catchiness that makes you think about it when you aren't listening to it. Good debut for a project that has given us so many great albums (see Carry Us All Away).
I love Lowercase Noises; I really do. The way Andy Othling creates such mesmerizing music that takes you to another world is great. On my first review, I talked about how The Oh Hello's debut release was amazing and near-perfection and that can be said on this record too.
If you don't know who or what Lowercase Noises is, then I have no idea how you got here but welcome and join me as I tell you a take of Andy Othling's project Lowercase Noises. Lowercase Noises is exactly what I just said: a musical project done by Andy Othling from Albuquerque, New Mexico who makes various degrees of ambient and post-rock music. Seafront is a different case though because it has elements of jazz hidden throughout a couple tracks, namely Evening Wolves, and some more heavier guitar riffs (see A Rare Social Gathering / On the Porch). I really enjoy this album for the most part, as I do all of Andy's albums. So without further ado....Seafront by Lowercase Noises.
Andy is great when it comes to atmospheric, calming presences by using reverb, delay and swells throughout his music. Take the opening track Reeds for example. It has a simple chord progression, minimalistic qualities throughout the instrumentation and is as mellow as it gets. The soothing nature of the swells and delays is almost like an exploration; the song itself makes me think I'm walking alone just looking at the sights, which is ironic seeing as how track 3 is called It Was a Sight.
Most of this review can be summed up in one of two ways:
1. The song is beautiful and sure to get you in a better mood instantly
OR
2. The song gets your head bobbing because of the faster nature than the other tracks.
The main difference is tempo with Reeds, Certain Remembrances, It Was a Sight and Burning Sand being the calm, atmospheric tracks against Evening Wolves, The Force Below Lion Lullabies, A Rare Social Gathering / On the Porch and Rushes. The only track that differs from those descriptions is A Haunt of Jackals which is a combination of the two due to the drum beat being added and somewhat A Rare Social Gathering because it switches paces at the back-half.
The standout track off of this record is probably the seven minute long head bobber A Rare Social Gathering / On the Porch. It starts of with some alternate picking over electronic drum beat and explodes into what is definitely the biggest point of the record. It's sort of the chorus in this song, even though Lowercase Noises is an instrumental project. The only problem with this song, and a few others, is the voice-over. I never understood the appeal of having voice recordings of someone atop instrumental music, although I guess it adds a layer to the otherwise "semi-barren-ness" of instrumental music.
The rest of the tracks are pretty much like those two. The Force Below Lion Lullabies is a big, heavy song versus the quiet / timidness of It Was a Sight. Rushes is the same melody and chord structure as Reeds except with drums and added guitars in the background to make it seem like it is sort of faster. It also gives it a more definite tone versus the connectivity of Reeds due to the guitars just meshing together instead of actually sounding like it was picked. It's a good way to start and close Seafront since they both have the same musical format and gives a good consistent feel to the rest of it.
The tracks themselves, while being beautiful, aren't entirely memorable. The only exceptions are A Rare Social Gathering and maybe The Force Below Lion Lullabies since they have a good, open melody. That doesn't mean the other songs are bad; this album still has a lot, AND I MEAN A LOT, of replay value. You're sure to go back to this album and the rest of Lowercase Noises' discography if you need to relax, chill, even sleep.
While this album doesn't entirely have the memorable moments you'd hope for, it still presents itself in a way most albums do. You might not be humming the songs themselves, but you'll still want to go back for more.
Lowercase Noises - Seafront 4/5
