United Sounds of Joy - United Sounds of Joy

  by Anthony Strutt

published: 27 / 4 / 2016

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United Sounds of Joy is according to its members not a reunion, but it is at one level as it reunites ex-Dream City Film Club members, Michael J. Sheehy and Alex Vlad, fot the first time since 1995 when Alex was kicked out of that band. Dream City Film Club was a band that made Joy Division seem like they were pop music, but 'United States of Joy' is not as miserable as one would expect. Its cover art work hints at something gospel or holy and to a degree it is. It travels in different directions from song to song and is quite different to most indie music around today or even in 1995, when MIchael and Alex last played together. It opens with the mystical 'Seams of Sorrow', which recalls Tindersticks in its reflective tones and has a vocal style similar to that which Bowie used on 'Blackstar'. 'The Sun That Hides a Darker Star' is reminiscent musically of aboriginal world music, while vocally it feels like a torch song. 'Dust Veil' features spoken word prose over an electro-paced beat, and is like Peter Gabriel reading 'The War of the Worlds'. 'Wounded Moon' has a smooth Scott Walker sound, while 'She Sets the Stars in Motion' is quite upbeat for ex-Dream City Film Club members and has a slow rhythm that, while at one level calming, has a Cinemascopic depth. 'I Hear Her Call My Name' is a slowly rocking lullaby, while 'Queen of Seven Dials' has a happy feel and again a spoken word vocal over slow instrumentation. 'Free to Fall' ends the album, and, the longest track here, is very lo-fi as if Lee Hazlewood was directing a Spaghetti Western. A first-rate album.

Track Listing:-

1 Seams of Sorrow
2 The Sun That Hides A Darker Star
3 Dust Veil
4 Wounded Moon
5 She Set The Stars In Motion
6 I Hear Her Call My Name
7 Queen of Seven Dials
8 Free To Fall

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/United-Sounds-of-Joy-870181869692285/
http://unitedsoundsofjoy.co.uk/
https://twitter.com/unitedsoundsjoy
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCCmT8EN8jMxQVkuszjBXZw

Label Links:-

http://bronzerat.com/
https://www.facebook.com/bronzeratrecords
https://twitter.com/bronze_rat

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