The Early Stages Of Decline (15:22)
Depths Of December (6:42)
A Slow And Steady Winter (6:26)
The Time We've Spent (5:35)
Never Ending (8:02)
Romantica (7:42)
The Rest Of Our Lives (6:52)
February Sun (7:47)
As someone who's always enjoyed ambient music and been ever ready to defend it against those who would dare to use the dreaded "New Age" phrase (granted my argument showcased itself as little more than a variance of "Man, you just don't get it!") I was excited to get the new Slow Dancing Society release, The Slow and Steady Winter. As of late, there have been several Hidden Shoal records coming across the Sonic Frontiers desk, and most have been first rate. This release has great, stirring moments . . . but it's far from perfect.
The album starts with a trio of tracks that really piqued my interest and got me wondering if I'd found the next great ambient record I was looking for. "The Early Stages of Decline" is an evocative, if fairly standard, track of layered sounds; and "Depths of December" excels at what it sets out to do - unsettle. Growling bass noises fight against trembling tones and echoed vocal scratches to create the perfect soundtrack for staring at your closet door in the middle of the night. The album's title track feels like the most fully realized track on the album. Its mix of surging bass and treated guitar sounds that simultaneously feels familiar and new, comfortable and cautious in the same musical breath.
Slow Dancing Society does get my respect for trying to break out of the "typical" ambient mold - I imagine the temptation to get lost in a sea of electronic shoe-gazing is hard at best. Unfortunately, tracks like "The Time We've Spent" and "The Rest of Our Lives" stumble badly into the realm of pseudo-lite-jazz, with little more than a strummed guitar and displaced drum kit.
However, even the best tracks on the album still act and feel like very specific homages to other artists in and around the ambient genre. Before I go any further, let me clarify that tracks like "Never Ending" and "Romantica" are heart-breakingly beautiful pieces of music and have helped me stretch out quite a few mornings into their own little heavens. But stepping back for a moment, they always leave me thinking of the Manual/Limp/Icebreaker International records they so closely mirror.
If I sound overly critical of this record it's because it is frustratingly close - close to truly creating something stunning in this tiny, unfairly-marginalized genre that I love. I want to believe this record is a growing pain and upon finding their personal voice a fantastic, original record is on the rise.
Will Joines, Sonic Frontiers
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