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Album Details

• Artist: Awolnation
• EP:
I've Been Dreaming
• Label:
• Year of Release: 2012
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: redraiderstw on 2012-06-07

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For those of who haven't heard of AWOLNATION (and yes, they spell it in all CAPS on purpose), they are still just a "newly formed" band from the City of Angels (L.A.) that was started by front man Aaron Bruno. Bruno was formerly apart of Under The Influence Of Giants before being approached by Red Bull Records in 2009 and formed a "partnership", as Aaron calls it, allowing him to write and produce his own material. In just a few short months, the group put out their first EP Back From Earth and then released their first official album Megalithic Symphony in 2011 and have been touring and playing festivals worldwide. It's evident from their first album that they did things right as almost every track is an instant hit with fans everywhere!

AWOL released their next EP I've Been Dreaming on June 5th, 2012 along with their fall tour dates. As always, we were on top of the release and were sampling the tracks that very day. I have to admit, at first listening to the beginning track, I had to ask myself if I was really listening to AWOL or not. It just didn't sound anything at all like their previous songs, but I remind myself that branching out and trying something new is all about the creative process and being an artist/musician so I continued to listen on with an open ear and mind. It wasn't until 3rd time listening to the EP, over a few days, that I was able to really get a good feel for the music. Besides the title EP track, there are two more new singles along with some live recordings of a few hits.

The first track, "I've Been Dreaming" starts off with a rhythm and sound that almost sounds like Jamaican music infused with brass and electric guitar. You here a plethora of percussion along with Bruno's vocals, which if you listen closely will help tell the story of his journey so far with AWOL. He refers to dreaming all of his life and wanting to just make people move; which just happens to be the chorus of the song. There is also references in the song of what sounds like a relationship or love life in the past, but music can be interpreted many different ways to I suggest you give it a listen for yourself.

The second track on the EP, "Shoestrings", takes a more traditional approach to rhythm, vocals, and keyboard that AWOL has used in their past songs; much like "People" and "Kill Your Heroes". The third new single, "Swinging From The Castles", was way a different approach for AWOL; the lyrics along with rhythm and use of a synthesizer make it hard to see where AWOL was going with this song. It is a unique track and in no way am I saying that I dislike it; we are all guilty of getting used to a band/artist right when they do a changeup on you and bring you something totally out of left field...that is clearly what AWOL has done here with their new EP. You can download the EP for free from AWOL's website, after signing up for their email list of course.

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