Particle Wave/ “Paintings on Shadows” / Self

Dark but upbeat indie rock. Background instrumentation/general sound sort of reminiscent of 80s slightly goth rock - The Smiths, (a less dramatic) Tears for Fears etc. Often evokes The Auteurs too. Sometimes sounds a bit cheesy because of it. Mid-higher pitched male vocalist, very good singer though often understated. Occasionally uses falsetto, which sounds a bit weird for the genre. General take – not a bad song on the album, could’ve done without some of the cheesy synths/guitar solos/vocal flourishes, but the guys are definitely talented.

No FCCs detected. Favorites include: 2, 6, 7

1. 3:38 Ambient sounds, guitars, midtempo, kinda dark. Lyrics almost spoken at times.
2. *2:47 Clean guitar, higher vocals, more electric/distorted chorus. Kind of standard, but really solid.
3. 2:44 Trumpet, vocals a bit more forced, sounds a bit comically dramatic.
4. 2:16 Slighty more “upbeat”, vocals a bit show-tuney during verse.
5. 3:40 Very Smiths-y beginning/background, some slightly cheesy vocal echoes.
6. *2:09 Fun clean electric guitar strummed riff, guitars a bit beachy sounding, nice short number.
7. *3:21 Auteurs-ish sound/melody. Piano, whispery vocals, midtempo, strummed guitar. Great chords/sound in chorus, simple dark turns, well done.
8. 2:25 Heavier rock number, uptempo, distorted guitars.
9. 3:24 Midtempo, piano chords, 80s ish electric guitar solo, slightly crooner-ish lower vocals.
10. 3:01 Distorted echoey electric guitars, midtempo, nice vocals in verse.
Deniz Cebenoyan