This album will undoubtedly satisfy the core fans of Failure, and hopefully bring a lot more to the fold with this cathartic, deeply personal release.
For every Queen there is a Zon. Every Yes has a Happy The Man. For every Bon Jovi, there’s an Aldo Nova. And for every The Smashing Pumpkins, there’s a Failure. Fret not, because this band is anything but…. Some bands seem to operate on the fringes of mainstream appeal and success, even if they receive acclaim and accolades from the specialized press. In the process, it maintains a rabid fan base.
Failure can be dreamy and breezy, yet at the same time, heavy and eerie. Categorizing the sound of the band can be a challenging task, to say the least. Maybe that is why they are not more popular. Who can tell? If they can be compared to a science fiction movie, as most of their albums are drenched in the subject of sci-fi, they are not Star Wars; they would definitely be Solaris or Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky. Consequently, the music is highly atmospheric and conceptual, if not in the literal sense, at the very least, on a spiritual level. Every song ebbs and flows seamlessly into the next, like the threads of a tapestry or a spider’s web that traps you without you being aware of the danger.
The musicians seem to be telepathically linked, as every instrument is deployed with precision and intent. There’s no interest in upstaging each other (this is not Dream Theater!), only operating in the interest of the song/album. The dreamlike voice serves as the connector between all the elements, be it a guitar riff with a delay effect, a highly addictive bass line, the stoic drumming, surgically placed samples, or a hauntingly beautiful orchestral arrangement. As a consequence of that, the nine songs can switch from being disarmingly personal to unapologetically cryptic without notice.
The other thing is you can’t disassociate the songs from each other. Therefore, there’s no “Been Caught Stealing,” no “Tonight, Tonight.” In sum, every track is part of the whole and therefore can’t be separated from it.
Self-produced by the band, the songs have space to breathe, featuring carefully crafted arrangements. Accordingly, the album is perfectly balanced and able to capture the desperate beauty and the heady atmosphere that oozes from these tracks. The changes in tempo and intensity of the tracks are smooth. The flow is continuous, almost imperceptible. When you finish listening to the album, you’re eager to start again. It is impossible to grasp all the details and nuances upon a first listen. Inevitably, this release warrants repeated excursions to uncover its secrets. I
f you want to listen to a record that perfectly coalesces alternative rock, shoegaze, space rock, and experimental music, then this release should be your next obsession.
Location Lost is set for release on April 24th.
PHOTO BY: Lindsey Byrnes
