There’s a lot to like about Anathallo. It seems they aim to please, with as many corners of music that they explore. Between the indie rock with post rock tendencies opus
Floating World to the hymnal cover album
Hymns, the band have covered vast amounts of area. Their debut
Luminous Luminescence in the Atlas Position features a more raw and straightforward approach, still graced with soaring vocals and sprinkled with numerous sing-a-longs. Imagine the vocal melodies of a band like Taking Back Sunday fronting a wildly diverse sound comprised of everything from ska and punk to alternative and indie. The end result is likable enough, but the album tries too hard in too many places, and despite the amount of things going on, it even gets boring at points.
Hints of potential show up all over the place. The semi-grandiose scale of instrumental opener “To Renew, Cause to Grow, or Bloom Again” is exciting enough to stir up anticipation of the rest of the rest of the album because it’s immediately apparent that there’s something unique about Anathallo amidst the lackluster production (the album is self-produced and the booklet was hand-crafted by the band). Any preconceived notions derived from the first track are laid to rest the moment the vocals come in; what seems like an under-produced demo turns into sprawling anthems with Matt Joynt’s emotional wails. His vocals are the most at home on the slower tracks like “Mardi Gras”, and are complimented with an array of different instruments, from strings and harps to a brass section and additional percussion. The band use everything in their arsenal as any efforts of pinpointing a genre are halted with each passing song. “Snowman” is another highlight; a seamless transition occurs from the pop rock first half to the brass, strings and piano led second half.
It’s when Anathallo try to do too much that the record is cluttered and ultimately off-putting, and this happens entirely too often. “...in the Atlas Position” is unintentionally abrasive until the last minute, where they resort to the same subdued piano and horn interludes that populate many other portions of the album. The most frustrating thing about
Luminescence is the aforementioned hints of potential never grow into anything more because the band are too busy trying to unload everything at once; it’s as if they get impatient with their own sound so they play something else before the first idea ever had a chance to develop. What’s even worse is that when they make these switch-ups, they more often than not end up recycling earlier ideas over and over so it becomes almost impossible to appreciate them at some point. However, this is only a real problem if you’re paying close enough attention; it’s an entirely different scenario when the album is acting as background music. Of all Anathallo albums, this would be the one to throw on when you’re driving or at a party, or anywhere else you wouldn’t be paying attention.
Potential isn’t the only thing that’s hinted at in
Luminescence; a plethora of ideas the band expand upon in later albums are sporadically littered here. There’s something indie about this record, even if it’s not immediately apparent. Perhaps it’s the self-produced sound, the unorthodox approach to songwriting, the implementation of a large variety of instruments, or all of the above. Whatever the case, all of these are better developed on their other records, most notably
Floating World. This is a good sign for Anathallo because it tells me they’ve always had the groundwork for what they’re trying to do, but they just needed to mature and write better compositions. You won’t find the epic, almost movement-like compositions on this album, but if you’re interested in knowing the band’s roots, look no further than this relatively average but promising debut.
