Gems / Kill The One You Love
Album: Kill The One You Love   Collection:General
Artist:Gems   Added:Nov 2015
Label:Carpark Records  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2015-12-06 Pull Date: 2016-02-07
Week Ending: Jan 31 Jan 24 Jan 17 Jan 10 Dec 20 Dec 13
Airplays: 3 1 3 2 2 5

Recent Airplay
1. Oct 02, 2021: Music Casserole (rebroadcast from Dec 12, 2015)
Ephitaph
4. Jan 27, 2016: Home on the Range
Ephitaph, Savior, Soak
2. Apr 03, 2016: Breakaway Bluff Breaks Away
Blood Runs
5. Jan 24, 2016: Breakaway Bluff
Soak
3. Jan 27, 2016: radio seven
W/ Ou
6. Jan 18, 2016: Everything A to Z week 26
Ephitaph

Album Review
Waves
Reviewed 2015-11-28
They call themselves "Shadowpop influenced by R & B production and shoegaze, delayed chords, ethereal vocals, and clean guitar lines evoke early Cocteau Twins." Her voice isn't as strong as Elizabeth of Cocteau Twins, but there are resemblances especially in the "string" keyboards and the vocal register. I like what they are doing here, two people with minimal elements make full compositions. With more listens, I am super impressed by the movement and textures in the production and the sweet and pretty vocals convey a gentleness & fragility that is tremendous.
All Tracks good, stars are extra recommended.
No FCC

1. Blood Runs - Musical Intro
*2. W/ OU - Soprano fem vox with sparse textural beat
***3. Soak - fem/ male vox, more dynamic beat and guitar atmospheres. self-described as "distorted guitar and vocal mutations"
4. Living as a Ghost - Fem vox, more backing, Sundays-feel move into more sound walls.
**5. Empires Fall - spooky gothic-ish intro, with humming, sparser track leads into more pop-song with guy vocals backing, then breaks into more driving track.
***6. Heartbreaker - Starts slow, laid-back with lots of echo and pretty fem vox.
7. Scars - Softer track (Cocteau or Sundays) I don't feel the beat works super well with it, but as the track evolves, the beat blends into the flowing clothes and angel light. Nice guitar jangles add sunflare. Pretty, a little repetitive.
*8. Tangled Memories - Quiet, soft, gentle vocals, has laid back reflective quality, sort of nostalgic like "Tangled Memories" nice watery keyboard/guitar riffs, fades out.
***9. Savior - Dramatic, yet calm, cinematic then kinda builds into epic yet with a warmth like a Christmas feeling (no references to Christmas at all) there is a break in the track, and then it picks back up for reprise.
***10. Epitaph - Starts with drumming, a bit more laid back and simple production, nice hip-hop beat with pretty soprano voice with angelic overtones, at one point lightly scatting to the beat.
11. White Light - Quiet elegance, reflective. Bigger sound builds. F/M vocals.

Track Listing
1. Blood Runs   6. Heartbreaker
2. W/ Ou   7. Scars
3. Soak   8. Tangled Memories
4. Living As A Ghost   9. Savior
5. Empires Fall   10. Ephitaph
  11. White Light