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Gracer

Voices Travel

Written by: TL on 24/09/2006 01:55:54

When you first listen to an album like Long Island trio Gracer's debut "Voices Travel", you’ll have trouble determining what to think of it. Words like pretentious and bombastic might come into the mind of the cynical, where the more sentimental listener would more likely be thinking along the lines of beautiful or breathtaking.

Think of Mew's "Comforting Sounds" and you'll have a decent impression of the mood and sound Gracer are grasping at here. Spacey guitars and poetic lyrics bound together by tight drumming, creating huge atmospheres and soundscapes usually building up slowly in order to climax and fade away like magic powder on the wind. It's the kind of music you just wanna put on, while you lie down on your couch/bed/whatever and just let yourself sink into it, setting your mind free to float away with the dreamy compositions. The muted basslines draw you into moods that remind you of bands like Death Cab For Cutie or Coldplay. Just listen to the second track "Emily Taylor" or the piano-driven "Nowhere", a song that will soon have you chanting "and you're nowhere" repeatedly in your softest, most angst-filled and vulnerable emo-voice.

The reason it's hard to determine what you actually think of this record lies within its nature. None of the songs on the CD are bad or even boring, but because of their elusive nature, the impression they leave on you is also fragile. Like a dream you know you had, but can’t quite make it out. To decide if this characteristic works for or against the album is next to impossible, but you have to give it credit for being well put together. Opener "Hold On" serves as well as the gentle introduction to a Gracer-universe, as the remaining songs serve as vessels taking you to the far corners of it.

With quality musicianship and perfect production, Gracer has managed to put out a record that, is to some beautiful and to others merely pretty. The payoff you get from listening to this CD is closely connected to your affinity (or lack of such) for music as soft as this, and if Gracer are aiming for a top grade, they need to continue making their own music like this, only improving its ability to grab a hold of the listeners attention, and retain it in a stronger way. This is however certainly a very good album, a noteworthy step above average, and hence I reward it as such with a

Download: Esperanza, One Thousand Souls
For the fans of: Mew, Death Cab For Cutie
Listen: MySpace

Release date 05.06.2006
Revelation
Provided by Target ApS