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Album Details
- Artist: The Unraveling
- Album: Everything Is Normal
- Label: Setting Sun Records
- Year of Release: 2010
- ME Rating:
- Reviewed by: carlito on 2011-03-29
RecommendEverything is Normal, the latest release from Australian trio The Unraveling, is a set of eleven songs that can be categorized as electronic new-wave styled rock, that sometimes crosses over into downtempo music in the vein of Dido.
Lead vocalist Ciara has a soft and steady tone, that I feel, grounds all of the tracks and gives the band their unique sound. There's a nice range of instruments throughout the album from strings, drum samples, electric guitars, bells, and fx that give off a both futuristic and ethereal vibe.
"Growing Pains" is a funky little ditty with an enormously catchy hook. It was definitely hard to stop my head from nodding to this one. Probably my favorite on here. I particularly liked "Essential" for its dynamics. It goes from a very slow opening to a straightforward club-style drum pattern (kick/snare, kick/snare, etc...), but then at about forty-seven seconds in, the drums and guitar licks pick up and make for a very nice uptempo track. A nice give-and-take of tension.
Everything is Normal is a decent listen; it's a good album, not a great one. My biggest problem with it is that it consistently hits the same emotional note on pretty much every song. This makes it slightly boring. They have enough surprises and different sounds to build tension and dynamics, but I don't feel it's always enough to keep the listener engaged--at least, not this one. I'd keep my eye out on The Unraveling, but this album has its ups and downs.
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on 2011-03-29 Michael_Morrison Said:
Everything is Normal is the first (as far as I can tell) release from the quirky pop/techno-ish trio The Unravelling.
The band is comprised of Ciara (vocals), Dr. Pete (guitars) and Jono (keyboards). Krucial makes an appearance here and there on tablas and flute. Unfortunately there isnt a lot of information about the band. Their MySpace page doesnt provide much depth on the members or their take on the music they create. Likewise for the Setting Sun Records website just not much out there. The band shares their name with a Canadian-based progressive metal duo as well and that further clouds the information available to potential fans.
Everything is Normal opens up with a poppy synth-laden track called Come Undone . The instrumentation and dry, upfront vocals set the stage for some nice interplay between a decent drum groove, interesting guitar textures and very analog synth tones. Jono and Dr. Pete have some great production chops and they dont hesitate to showcase them by making use of clever vocal effects and lots of layering and texture. The trend continues through the title track and in Doctor and Better . The songs are all solid productions, benefit from interesting arrangements and Ciaras vocals fit into a nice pocket. Just at the point where the tones and synth sounds were beginning to wear a bit thin the trio introduces a change-up with the song Growing Pains . This track features great rhythmic harmony vocals and benefits from an arrangement thats more sparse and open while still retaining the tones that give The Unravelling their sound. Another standout track for me is the song Essential . It begins with piano, guitar and some subtle flute and creates a cool vibe and atmosphere over a simple groove. Ciaras vocals float in this song without the effects being overdone. Chunky Moves takes on a slightly different direction as the synths take over while still leaving room for Ciaras vocals.
The Unravelling have a solid effort here on Everything is Normal. For fans of the genre these are some good tracks although they wont totally pound out the dance floor. The production overall is really good and its nice to see tracks like this done without overuse of effects and gimmicks. Theres just enough there to make things interesting while staying subtle. The synths and guitars work well together to provide the backdrop for Ciaras vocals. The grooves are pretty good too though I favored the slower beats more, the more up-tempo tracks didnt seem to have quite the punch that I would have liked. If theres anything that Everything is Normal suffers from its a lack of dynamic depth. The songs are varied but everything stays on a very even keel perhaps more atmospheric breaks interspersed with more intense drum grooves could spice things up some. Still, I found this CD to be enjoyable and it would totally work in rotation with lots of other groove-based pop material in an iTunes playlist. The biggest drawback for the band is sharing their name with the Canadian duo. Web searches pull up more about the other Unravelling than this trio and thats unfortunate.
This CD should find fans if the fans can find it. I would encourage The Unravelling to make more of a presence on the web and provide more insight into the trio beyond the scarce information currently available.
Written by J.D. Stefan
Posted by Michael Morrison
Rating: 7/10
