Genre: Dream Pop, Art Rock
1. Snakes & Ladders (3:58)
2. Hyena (3:14) )
3. White Wall (4:11)
4. Séance (5:00)
5. Triangle (6:08)
6. Memory Lost (5:27)
7. A Vanishing Act (6:09)
8. Absence (6:31)
Down in the valley of the deep blue sea...
The world of Absence is a strange one. Part math rock, part dream pop, the whole album gives off an amazingly eerie beauty that is entirely unique to itself. Once you get past the two slightly hookier songs that open the album, the whole record is effectively an uneasy, ethereal blur. Some of the tracks, especially near the middle, drift by without you even noticing they're there. For all I know they might not be. I couldn't even tell you what Memory Lost sounds like, and that's probably a great song.
If I was a more innately talented and/or pretentious writer, Absence is the sort of album that would inspire me to write one of those anecdote-style reviews that tell you everything about the atmosphere of the album and nothing about the sound. Which is convenient, seeing as there aren't really any genre terms that accurately describe Absence whatsoever. I've seen terms like "ghost rock" and "nightmare pop" whimsically thrown around, and honestly they work as well as anything. Something I do find interesting, having never heard any of Snowman's previous material, is that not only is it decidedly gentler than their previous work, but they apparently wrote Absence knowing that they were gonna split up after its release. Definitely lends the album a certain Leaves Turn Inside You vibe. It wears it well. From a personal perspective, I can also say that it's by far the best album of the year to read Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World to.
All of that might mean something to you, or it might not.
You should probably listen to it. You'll see what I mean.
Recommended to: Seg, Rusty, icon, maybe Vince
NEXT UP: More of that white stuff.
--
And if you don't know, now you know.