The Sinclair Sinclair
Every now and again a record appears that forces you to throw all plans for blog posts out of the window (generally I try to write about albums / artists in the sort of incredibly obscure and vagueish chronological order that I first hear them), but when an album as good as the one I'm going to ramble incoherently about comes along, protocol goes out of the window…
And the subject of this post are the Tallinn, Estonia four-piece The Sinclair Sinclair. The band comprise the ethereal vocals of Keit Kukk, guitarist and songwriter / composer Raido Rahnel, Taago Piisang - provider of the bewitching electronic soundscapes - and drummer Jan Pillav. Their debut album, "Breaking The Waves", via London-based indie Beautiful Strange is probably the most spellbinding collection of songs that I've heard this year, creating images of bleak and at times outer-worldly - yet surprisingly reassuring - landscapes.
Opening to Keit's gloriously multi-tracked and at times choral vocals, "Sirens", with it's percolating electronic patterns and increasingly omnipresent and haunting chords, creates the most surrealistic and edgy aural landscape that lays down a marker for the rest of the album. I'm very much a sucker for angelic harmonies and vocals, but at times Keit's takes on the qualities of a musical instrument. Seriously, she truly possess one of the most bewitching of voices that I think I've heard this year.
Actually 'eerie' would be another suitable adjective to describe The Sinclair Sinclair's sound; probably none more so that the single "Cosmos". Here the band have created an unworldly vista. Swirling synths create an ominous sound that appear to emanate from the depths of space (if you could actually here sounds in the vacuum), but for all the overwhelming sense of vastness and solitude, Keit's distinctively crystalline voice permeates and fills the void. The video below conveys this eeriness that their sound creates…
And while "Breaking The Waves" and "Paradise" would equally claim to paint seemingly bleak panoramas, there's an underlying vibrancy (if you've ever been to Death Valley you'll know what I mean). On both songs Keit's vocals transcend the gloom, percussion and synths shed their sombre soundtracks, creating multilayered symphonies of sound, as if the first rays of dawn bring life to previously barren landscapes…
There are hints of early industrial-techno littered throughout this album - think pre-Dare Human League, Throbbing Gristle, Kraftwerk (researching - i.e. "Googling" - suggests this genre is apparently referred to as 'Coldwave') along side gloomy (but right up my street) 80's post-punk, Shoegaze and one of my favourite LA bands, the deeply mysterious SISU.
Yet there's also a warmth. "Wild Man" and "Make Me" are probably my favourite songs on an album that has been on constant repeat these past few days (I'm metaphorically shuffling around the floor, staring down at my shoes) - the sound is rich, textural and three-dimensional - both have incredibly uplifting melodies. Meanwhile the soaring refrains of "Prangli" and the album's closer "Tonight" have a distinctive 4AD feeling about it (here comes the obligatory Elizabeth Fraser / Cocteau Twins reference), that evokes the complex and lush atmospheric sounds of The Cocteau Twins and Dead Can Dance. And while a web-trawl does seem to pulls-up references to early 4AD, I'd strongly argue that, similar to the Bay Area's Them are Us Too, as this compelling album illustrates, The Sinclair Sinclair have so much more about them than to be merely dismissed as another 4AD clone.
Yearlist tends to get overused by (especially) me, but this is an album and band I'll definitely be coming back to…
And the subject of this post are the Tallinn, Estonia four-piece The Sinclair Sinclair. The band comprise the ethereal vocals of Keit Kukk, guitarist and songwriter / composer Raido Rahnel, Taago Piisang - provider of the bewitching electronic soundscapes - and drummer Jan Pillav. Their debut album, "Breaking The Waves", via London-based indie Beautiful Strange is probably the most spellbinding collection of songs that I've heard this year, creating images of bleak and at times outer-worldly - yet surprisingly reassuring - landscapes.
Opening to Keit's gloriously multi-tracked and at times choral vocals, "Sirens", with it's percolating electronic patterns and increasingly omnipresent and haunting chords, creates the most surrealistic and edgy aural landscape that lays down a marker for the rest of the album. I'm very much a sucker for angelic harmonies and vocals, but at times Keit's takes on the qualities of a musical instrument. Seriously, she truly possess one of the most bewitching of voices that I think I've heard this year.
Actually 'eerie' would be another suitable adjective to describe The Sinclair Sinclair's sound; probably none more so that the single "Cosmos". Here the band have created an unworldly vista. Swirling synths create an ominous sound that appear to emanate from the depths of space (if you could actually here sounds in the vacuum), but for all the overwhelming sense of vastness and solitude, Keit's distinctively crystalline voice permeates and fills the void. The video below conveys this eeriness that their sound creates…
And while "Breaking The Waves" and "Paradise" would equally claim to paint seemingly bleak panoramas, there's an underlying vibrancy (if you've ever been to Death Valley you'll know what I mean). On both songs Keit's vocals transcend the gloom, percussion and synths shed their sombre soundtracks, creating multilayered symphonies of sound, as if the first rays of dawn bring life to previously barren landscapes…
There are hints of early industrial-techno littered throughout this album - think pre-Dare Human League, Throbbing Gristle, Kraftwerk (researching - i.e. "Googling" - suggests this genre is apparently referred to as 'Coldwave') along side gloomy (but right up my street) 80's post-punk, Shoegaze and one of my favourite LA bands, the deeply mysterious SISU.
Yet there's also a warmth. "Wild Man" and "Make Me" are probably my favourite songs on an album that has been on constant repeat these past few days (I'm metaphorically shuffling around the floor, staring down at my shoes) - the sound is rich, textural and three-dimensional - both have incredibly uplifting melodies. Meanwhile the soaring refrains of "Prangli" and the album's closer "Tonight" have a distinctive 4AD feeling about it (here comes the obligatory Elizabeth Fraser / Cocteau Twins reference), that evokes the complex and lush atmospheric sounds of The Cocteau Twins and Dead Can Dance. And while a web-trawl does seem to pulls-up references to early 4AD, I'd strongly argue that, similar to the Bay Area's Them are Us Too, as this compelling album illustrates, The Sinclair Sinclair have so much more about them than to be merely dismissed as another 4AD clone.
Yearlist tends to get overused by (especially) me, but this is an album and band I'll definitely be coming back to…
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