Word: songfulness
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...appearance of a violin, plucked lightly under the otherwise a capella chorus and sweeping above the verses. Mixed together with the otherwise simple percussion and guitar background, the violin elevates the track, making the final instrumental minute and a half just as enjoyable as the rest of the song...
...best tracks are those where the musical background is sufficiently engaging. In track three, “There’s Something Underwater,” Hynes enters with ukulele chords, leading into a swelling chorus that feels hymnal, reminiscent of an epic Sufjan Stevens’s song. It’s a simple composition, and while the lyrics are as predictable as on the rest of the album—Hynes seems to be striving the use the phrase “I miss you” a record number of times for a four minute song?...
...album starts off strongly with the group’s two previously-released singles, “Mouthful of Diamonds” and “When I’m Small;” by far the two best songs on the record. The former flaunts an orca-esque squeal and is driven by a warm, droning synthesized bass line that, when isolated at the beginning of the verse, creates a beautifully hazy atmosphere. “When I’m Small” follows, sounding like a less dramatic or soul-infused Portishead cut. Though somewhat rhythmically...
Some of the depth of “Eyelid Movies” comes from Phantogram’s rather transparent attempt to roughen up their songs through the use of lo-fi production elements. On “When I’m Small,” background crackling makes it sound as though the song is being played on a cheap vinyl record player. This attempt to avoid the crystal clarity of electro pop and set Phantogram apart from similar groups like Postal Service makes the album less accessible than it might have been. It does, however, succeed...
Impressively, Sade have managed to generate ten new song titles, which is seven more than there are distinguishable songs on the album. Most tracks on “Soldier of Love” hit the same low-tempo, somniferous groove that repeats until it stops, briefly, as if for convention’s sake, and then resumes in another key. The rhythm section, the core of any decent R&B group, sounds too often like the drum and bass GarageBand loops characterized by seamless, emotionally-bereft rhythmic accuracy and a robotic inability to feel—it?...