Artist: The Independent Seasons
Title: Songs From The Core Kit III
Genre: Lounge-Noir / Instrumental
Release Date: 1st March 2021
Label: Self-released
Album Review
Manfred Thomaser is one of those fidgety souls who could easily adopt “Side-Project” as his chosen middle name. THE INDEPENDENT SEASONS sees him taking a break from !DISTAIN and ARSINE TIBE, and presumably all the other side projects he has on the boil in various hidden corridors of his musical brain, and go all Lounge-Noir on us. Not exactly sure what Lounge-Noir is, but it sounds enticing enough for a peek, so a-peeking we will go…
As with the two albums that preceded it, this is an entirely instrumental affair, although it does use the novel idea of a house-tour as a loose concept to hold everything together, which also gives it a certain degree of intimacy. And so, we are greeted, on ‘Opening Doors’, with the cheerful pluck and strum of a warm welcome, made all the warmer as our host notices that cheekily expensive bottle of plonk tucked under your arm and the thoughtful gift of tulips (his favourite) wrapped in tissue-paper. Come on in, the mood is lovely. There are a few shadows here and there amongst the cheery optimism of ‘The Entrance Hall’ - it might be worth a closer look at those family photos on the table there. Definitely a few skeletons hidden amongst the smiles.
And ‘Family Pics’ reconfirms this, dancing and darting about like a child trying to show you all their toys at once, flickers of uncertainty and depth. Creaking door and footsteps usher us in to ‘The Cellar’, which despite the dark undertones, is a surprisingly funky place by the sound of it. Certainly, no fear of being locked in down here. ‘My Room’ sounds more like the teenage retreat though, angsty guitars and a skippy, trippy beat making this the room where no-one will understand you, and all that dreadful poetry you wrote will suddenly make sense to the spotty recipient of your undying affections. And it seems the place where it all comes together is the ‘Living Room’ - a sense of gentle urgency here, and focus. Before things end as they began, with that cheery pluck and strum, this time in farewell.
It’s a curious album. There’s certainly nothing essential here, but if you allow yourself to explore the concept in full, and take this quirky, odd little house-tour, it’s 50 minutes well-spent. Often, instrumental albums can simply feel like filler, or self-indulgence, or just plain dull, but you get a real sense here of the thought process that has gone into the project, and the care taken to create something that works. Its playful shading and constant movement make this a hearty distraction, and if Lounge-Noir didn’t exist before as a genre, it does now. Good stuff.
Tracklist
01. Opening Doors
02. The Entrance Hall
03. Family Pics
04. The Cellar
05. My Room
06. Living Room
Line-up
Manfred Thomaser
Website
http://www.theindependentseasons.com / https://www.facebook.com/theindependentseasons
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 8
Sound: 8
Total: 8 / 10
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