Artists: Lotus Feed
Title: So Close… So Far
Genre: Post Punk
Release Date: 1st February 2013
Label: afmusic
Album Review
“Good things come to those who wait” must have been the creed of LOTUS FEED, who waited almost 15 years to release their debut album in 2010. And the plan worked for the quartet from Cologne, ‘A Different Place’ received rave reviews from all around and the band pitched its camp on dozens of stages throughout the republic. So is it a portent now that ‘So Close… So Far’, their second output, follows with that lightning speed of only 3 years of time lag? May the rolling thunder fall silent – with ‘So Close… So Far’, LOTUS FEED deliver an impeccable successor, combining all ingredients the band’s name is a synonym for: Post Punk in its most essential shape, made up of an atmospheric density with rough edges, driving and shoving beats, swirling and wriggling basses, guitars full of effect and unpredictability and all thickened with nostalgia and musical crispness in equal shares.
But let´s go a bit into detail… ‘Drift’ welcomes you with some bittersweet harmonies woven by acoustic guitars, sea-like synth layers and a very decent drum. It may sound strange, but this little opener turns out to become one of my favourites of the album, because there´s a stunning melancholy inside it and it´s an instrumental, but reasons for that later. ‘I could’ then reveals the proper atmosphere of ‘So Close… So Far’ - driven, accented drums, shimmering guitars full of chorus, flanger effect and distortion, which seem to occupy every unobstructed space they can get hold of and a bass line that appears to be nervous like an animal in a cage. ‘Seasick’ follows that path, with ‘Loveshock’ upon its heels, whose courteous aggression is brilliantly combined with spherical and melodious synths. Mr Landberg´s vocal seem to scrape out from the musical undergrowth and sounds as if it gets hurt by this, coated with a patina of despair and resignation, wounded and brittle.
‘Home of the Watchmen’ is Goth rocking gem with an infecting energy, enjoyable guitar hook-lines and a very atmospheric arrangement. But while flowing through ‘Grow in use’, with its fog-like crawling mood and its spoken-word performance I realize what caused that disturbing feeling, that subconsciously chafes my synapses for a while now; it´s the vocals! In order to guard against misunderstandings – it fits perfectly to the rough and uneven surface of the music and its timbre owns a believable emotionality, but it lacks a bit of variety and diversity, what makes it become to isolated and compatible among the single tracks and causes a constantly recurring undertone throughout the whole album, what´s a pity because stylistically the structure is very multifaceted! The stomping vastness of ‘Tranquillity’, the contagious melancholy of ‘Upon a Hill’, the threatening tension of ‘Wake Up’ and the targeted intensity of THE CHAMELEONS’ classic ‘Second Skin’ - the 13 tracks run the whole gamut of emotions and impressions.
So what would Solomon do now? ‘So Close… So Far’ is a record full of great songs, made by guys who know their craft. LOTUS FEED don´t reinvent a genre with it, but they skilfully play with distinctive influences and inspirations (all listed on the band´s Facebook page) and manage to create a certain self-contained individuality, marked by a palpable atmosphere, gripping arrangements and a pleasant lyrical ambition. The only flaw is that this homogeneity blurs the edges of the single tracks over time, like an acoustic Gaussian filter. But maybe the message asked for that? So listen, judge and enjoy…
Tracklist
01. Drift
02. I could
03. Seasick
04. Loveshock
05. Home of the watchmen
06. Grow in use
07. Tranquillity
08. Upon a hill
09. Slow Motion
10. Wake up
11. Chance
12. Perception
13. Second Skin
Line-up
Alexander Landsberg – Vocals
Doc Marten – Guitars
Lars Tellmann – Bass
David Sielaff – Drums
Website
http://www.reverbnation.com/lotusfeed
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 8
Sound: 7
Total: 7.5 / 10
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