Album Review: Take a Breath of “Fresh Air” with Homeshake
Photo courtesy of www.stereogum.com.

Album Review: Take a Breath of “Fresh Air” with Homeshake

Number one on 90fm’s top 10 ten albums of the week for the second week in a row, Homeshake will take you to a whole other world with their latest album, “Fresh Air.”

Throughout the album, the band embodies a smooth jazz feel, while intermixing sounds from everyday life. Each song transitions into one another well enough that the album gels together creating a solid collection of songs.

At the beginning of the album is a short instrumental song called “Hello Welcome.” This opener sets you up with a style that is common throughout the whole album.

At the very end, Homeshake incorporates an everyday sound of the word “hello.” It echoes and fades off as it melts into the next song “Call Me Up.”

The second song has a steady groove which becomes the main melody. The vocalist’s voice floats above it.

Lyric wise, the first two songs gel together well since “Call Me Up” is all about the protagonist debating to call someone. The lyrics give both perspectives: the protagonist and the person waiting for the call.

The echoes from the opener not only welcome the listener to the album, but could also be a foreshadowing to someone answering the phone, making it a good transition to “Call Me Up.”

Number six on the album, “Getting Down, Pt. II” continues the theme of everyday sounds.

At the start of the song, the listener is greeted with the sounds of a phone buzzing. It buzzes twice and then a soft, guitar riff begins, mimicking the buzzing of the phone, only with pitches.

The guitar strums three buzzes and then begins to gently play a continuous melody behind the vocalist. The guitar repeats the buzzing style three more times at the very end.

“Getting Down Pt. II” refers to the phone call from the song “Call Me Up.” This time it is the receiving end of the phone call. Person who answers seems bewildered by the caller since the two haven’t talked in a little while.

Towards the end of the set is the namesake of the album,“Fresh Air.”

The theme of air can be heard right away, with gusts of wind gently blowing as the guitar strums a slow, hypnotizing melody.

The vocalist enters, singing very slowly as the air continues to blow. Partway through, a strange tinging noise similar to someone’s ringtone on their phone is layered in. It interjects a few times and finally pewters out at the end of the song.

Homeshake plays around with a variety of everyday sounds including the sound of a plane’s engine turning off and a woman trying to get your attention. The band’s beats are steady and consistent, yet, the songs still have a catchy and relaxing groove that keeps the listener’s head bopping along.

 

Nicole Congdon

Contributor

Nicole. A. Congdon@uwsp.edu

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