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Release of the Month: Audrey
 Pick of the month for June 2006.
Audrey
Visible Forms
Website:Audrey
Label:TenderVersion
Buy Here:TenderVersion
Music:Myspace
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I must admit, previously I was very unimpressed with the work of Audrey, but this is a story of how the band enchanted me to its melancholic indie-pop music. You’d think it wouldn’t be very hard for a group of four females to impress a 21 year old male, but I’m a stubborn critic.
Generally, I do the best that I can to ignore the pop side of the music world, especially as a college student. For those of you not currently enjoying the pretentious atmosphere of undergraduate academia, you'll do well to know that the amount of crap the average "indie" college kid listens to is baffling. Of course, you can easily lose yourself in Pitchfork Media’s unrelenting coverage of this indie crap, which is why I try to steer clear away and into a safer zone of listening. This isn't to say that I do not listen to pop music. Quite the contrary, I'm a sucker for a good pop tune just as much as the next guy, but it's probably the genre that I am most selective about. I subscribe to the grapevine theory in this genre -- if there is truly a pop album that i need to listen to, it will most assuredly be passed down from a friend at some point. This is how I came to know and love the bands 27, Loquat (who made a tremendous splash in From Monument to Masses's Schools of Thought Contend), and Logh. Combined with some staples like The Postal Service (guilty pleasure -- I swear!), they make a formidable accompaniment to my ears.
Audrey is of much different breed though. None of my friends were knocking down the door to tell me about Visible Forms. Instead I think I berated everyone I know with this album over the past month. I came to know this band through my workings with the largely instrumental Swedish label TenderVersion. As I have said, the band's earlier work, their 2004 self-titled EP and 2003 demo, failed to leave an impression on me other than a vague flat, lifeless feeling. However, anything that arrives in my mailbox I'm bound to listen to at least once.
Visible Forms wastes no time hooking the listener with its irresistible melodies and a beautiful four-pronged vocal attack. "Mecklenburg" begins with a gentle piano introduction and a subtle guitar line. The drums kick in, providing a smooth rhythm for the framework of the song and allowing the vocals to deeply penetrate into the sonic landscape. This is the general backbone of Audrey's sound: a very simple instrumental structure with piano, strings, and horns used sparingly for a little extra flavor. The vocal component pushes the band over the top, igniting bursts of beautiful music that washes over the entirety of the album as it quickly spreads out of control. "Mecklenburg" is the first taste of this. As the song climaxes the chorus builds and swirls to magnificent height, caressing the listener with gentle hands on the decline.
"Views" comes in slowly and allows the violin to paint a dark portrait for most of the song. The string gradually wears away at the percussion's patience and the drum volleys back with a cascade of symbols and an aggressive riff in toe. "Views" is largely an instrumental affair, but again we see the vocal component surging forward full force during the climax of the song. The surmounting tension of the string section is relieved by the drum's momentum while the ethereal vocals rise above the shimmering guitars in a tremendous bulge of emotion. This duet between serenity and melancholia is the key to Audrey's enjoyment. The quartet often lays down a foundation of depressing, haunting music with the uplifting, celestial climaxes of the post-rock genre. An otherworldly experience that rich can be likened to the works of Sigur Ros, minus the excessive ambience and substituting some good old English lyrics. What Audrey manages to do is to take this transcendental experience and root it in an organicism that quietly leads the band throughout the album.
The next two tracks on the album continue along this dichotic path. "Six Yields" dazzles with some impressive drum work and "Treacherous Art" with graphic lyrical content and a supplementary horn presence. Halfway through the disc "The Significance of Being Overt" marks a change in the band. This instrumental track signifies the end of their post-rockish elation and the last four tracks really restrict themselves to the indie-pop/rock world. Compositions get slow and weighed down by their own regression and lethargic feel. This transition may be a point of problems for some critics, but I would be lying if I said I'd be happy if Audrey continued doing the same trick the entire album. It's good to see them challenge themselves as musicians and really not rely on a single crutch for the debut album. Instead Audrey branches out and shows that they have more to offer than just a poppy sound and a knack for melodic tunes.
Visible Forms is something that's bound to escape coverage at the more illustrious indie websites, but don't make the same mistake and miss out on one of the year's best albums. Rebecka Kristiansson, Emelie Molin, Anna Tomlin, and Victoria Skoglund combine to really add some much needed excitement to 2006's resume. Although the band covers a variety of sounds on Visible Forms, Audrey will likely draw comparisons to Logh, The Cranberries, Fiona Apple, and maybe even Bjork due to their sophisticated vocal layerings. To this critic, Audrey is one of the better things to happen to music in a long time. Not only is it a nice change of pace from the normal music the industry provides, but it also makes you think about why you haven’t heard this type of sound before. Maybe Audrey is onto something big here.
~Jordan Volz
Written By: hostDate Posted: 11/22/2006Number of Views: 801
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