School of Seven Bells - Disconnect From Desire (2010)

Artist/Album: School of Seven Bells – Disconnect From Desire

Totally Subjective Number Rating: 8/10

Recommended if you like: Dream pop, shoegaze, any combination thereof.

Released By: Vagrant Records

Favorite Tracks: “Windstorm,” “Babelonia,” “Dial,” “Bye Bye Bye”

On School of Seven Bells’ debut album, 2008’s Alpinisms, they played dreamy pop music a la Beach House but borrowed a lot from world music. A lot of the percussion was rhythms borrowed from other places, and this gave that album a very fresh, original feel. On this album they’ve replaced the world music elements with shoegaze, at no loss of overall quality. This reminds me a bit of Imogen Heap. The vocalists, a set of twin sisters, sound much like her, but with entirely different backing music. At their heart, these are pop songs, and it’s too easy to get lost in the beautiful vocals and miss all that is going on. The murky guitar tones are a bit murkier than I typically hear from this style. Their excellent use of electronics almost contrasts the guitar tones. The drums are a bit clearer than you hear in most shoegaze, but this isn’t purely shoegaze so who cares, and that actually makes the songs feel a little more urgent. Some songs certainly seem to owe more to the shoegazers than others but I found the music constantly lively and the vocals enchanting throughout the album. On their first two albums, this band has taken two different styles and incorporated them into their music to make something that really is their own.