Drowner - Drowner

by Andy Cassidy

published: 26 / 6 / 2012

Label: Saint Marie Records
Format: CD

intro

Inventive and intelligent debut album from Texan-based shoegaze group, Drowner

Following the success of their debut EP, Texan four-piece Drowner release the first full length album of their own brand of dreampop shoegaze crossover. With self-acknowledged influences from bands as diverse as REM, The Cure, Siouxsie Sioux, My Bloody Valentine and the Verve, Drowner take indie guitar and mix it with deep overdrive, sensual vocals from Anna Bouchard and superb percussion from guitarist, keyboard player and drummer Darren Emanuel (ex-Swimming In). Opening track 'Point Dume' begins with an indie style guitar phrase overlaid with multi-tracked vocals and powerful, droning guitar chords. The song is a powerful opening to the album, and yet its lo-fi production echoes the vulnerability in Bouchard’s subtle vocals. The highlight of the album for me was the second track, 'Never Go Away'. It’s a blissed out, shoegaze lullaby, post-grunge in its execution and with a touchingly romantic lyric. The slower pace and the quieter level of the backing track allows Bouchard’s vocals (again superbly multi-tracked) to soar. The track slowly swells to a crescendo reminiscent of 'Takk' era Sigur Ros until the music threatens to overshadow the vocal before the guitars take over and grind out a near-overwhelming solo. The combination of the heavily distorted guitars and the purity of the lead vocals is immensely powerful and is a constant thread throughout the album. While listening to the album, I became aware of a dream-like quality to many of the songs. I think the distorted tracks and ethereal vocals lend a sense of hearing the songs through the gossamer-like filter of near sleep. Nowhere is this more evident than on 'Wildflowers', the album’s fourth track. The album closes with two remixes, and, if I’m honest, neither of them fit particularly well with the general mood of the preceding collection of tracks. The remixes are excellent, but I can’t help but feel that their presence at the end of the set serves to break the mood of the album up to that point. Both remixes are much more dance orientated than anything else on the album, and they simply don’t belong there. Fortunately, one has the opportunity to stop the CD after track eight. Musically, the album proper (tracks 1-8) is inventive and intelligent, while the lyrics and vocal performances are superb. The shoegaze movement seems to be burgeoning at present, and, of all the examples I have heard, this is definitely one of the best. I feel, however, that the band should have shown more confidence in their own material rather than including the two remixes – on the evidence presented here, their material is more than good enough.

Track Listing:-

1 Point Dume
2 Never Go Away
3 Chime
4 Wildflowers
5 Written
6 Tiny Ship
7 Here
8 This
9 Chime (Apples to Earth Remix)
10 Never Go Away (Nikki Gunz Remix)

Band Links:-

http://www.drownerband.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Drowner-182014378508957/
https://twitter.com/drownerband
http://www.last.fm/music/Drowner
http://drownerband.tumblr.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/DrownerBand?feature=mhee

Label Links:-

http://saintmarierecords.limitedrun.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Saint-Marie-Records-164080190305178
https://twitter.com/StMarieRecords
https://www.youtube.com/user/stmarierecords/videos
https://instagram.com/saintmarierecords/
https://plus.google.com/101156744740824013197