 |
MH-276 A Lull - Confetti  Confetti, the life-affirming debut from Chicago’s quintet, A Lull, grabs your attention from its first explosion and deconstructs you further with each subsequent, colorized blast. The band has spent glorious ages supplementing layers of guitars, bass, electronics and vocals by banging on drums (as well as recording rustling bags of trash, throwing bottles against walls and pounding away at anything in sight), eventually coming to the cacophonous percussion and everything else wall of sound that makes Confetti's sound unmistakable. The fervor of these endlessly layered, volatile songs is cooled by the voice and lyrics of Nigel Evan Dennis, who covers the grandiosity of each track with his emotionally entangled lyrics. Though the aural tone of Confetti is one of almost overwhelming joy, a sense of longing and regret is palpable between the lines. It’s as if every song is being sung to the face of a loved one at their breaking point. Though their sound is unmistakably their own, the concise romanticism harnessed by A Lull can at times conjure the songwriting ethos of Bon Iver, the instrumental indulgence of Sufjan Stevens or the garishly sensual emotional lift of Explosions In The Sky. Confetti's sense of hope and musical perfection captivates. |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reviews Summary |
| A Lull is like the current crop of Blitzen Trappers and Fleet Foxes all playing at once. - The Village Voice / A Lull stand eerily and mightily apart from their contemporaries. - MP3 Hugger / Think about every time you’ve wanted to immerse yourself in the sheer energy and force of an album, now take a look at Confetti and give yourself an experience. - The Line Of Best Fit |
| Reviews |
| "There's a quiet sound building all around," Nigel Evan Dennis sings in "Sideman" from A Lull's new full-length, before swapping adjectives, adding, "There's a disgusting sound building all around." This Chicago band makes music that couldn't justly be described as either quiet or disgusting. When I saw them perform last month at SXSW, four of its five members were beating drums (some full-time, some part-time). So you'd expect "Confetti," out today, to be a thunderous yawp, and it is -- but it's also remarkably light, the layers and layers (and layers) of sounds, mostly rhythms, flitting and fluttering like confetti itself. "Weapons for War" opens the album with synthesized traffic noise and skittering drumsticks; the music is bright and uplifting, even while the quizzical, esoteric lyrics suggest danger: "I went home with my very best friend / with a gun, with a blade, with a name ..." Some of the sounds are sometimes so digitally processed they lose shape and certainly warmth, and the ambition of the sound-stacking can get wearying. But the kinetic sound sculptures always resolve themselves into pretty accessible pop songs, without resolving the tension. An auspicious debut. - Chicago Sun Times |
1XLP/Out Of Print