“Is this all working out now?/Is this what I’ve dreamed about?/Is this everything I’ve been trying for?/Is this all I’m about?” The song contains this lyric sung over-and-over in a refrain style manner as the instrumentation swells louder and louder around the melody. Soon after, full-band instrumentation and vocals enter.
There’s a brief synthesizer intro on the concluding track, that quickly stops, making room for an acoustic guitar part. Acceptance? This conclusion pairs well when considering the next and final track, “What if I’m Not Meant for More?” In this sense, it’s almost like denoting the overall feel of the tune as a moment of clarity or moment of reckoning. 11:11 is a time people often denote as when one should make a wish. Though the instrumental is very brief, a lot is said. With the former, we hear a very quiet acoustic guitar part mixed with what could be described as a “chittering” sound. The last two tracks “11:11 (A Walk-Out)” and “What if I’m Not Meant for More?” finish off Holy Land. Like a lot of fantastic art, there’s tons of room for interpretation in this album. The distorted guitars come back once more to conclude the song. As the song develops further, the electric guitar turns far more distorted and fuzzed, before fading out to acoustic guitar and vocals. The violin and clean electric guitar parts work so well together. The latter tune is a slow indie-rock number, dripping with nostalgia a great way to come down from the intensity of the previous instrumental track. David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti? Is that you? Pairing this with “Northeast” makes perfect sense. The unrelenting ostinato acoustic guitar part of this track set against slow, but pounding drums, eerie synths, and violins, perfectly portray – in the mind of this listener – a disturbing outside scene at night in the woods. This is certainly true for “Trees,” track six. One of the aspects of this album I really enjoy are the use of instrumentals to piece together different moods within the record. Immediately after this, the song’s energy blasts upward, albeit the vocal staying low and relaxed the electric instrumentation and pounding drums really prove to take this song places. The lyric, “Wouldn’t it be nice to sleep?” is almost as painful sounding as it steeped in nostalgia. The first half of that song is acoustic guitar, synth pads, and vocals, both at a terrifically quiet and deceptive volume. The next song, and instrumental, “This Ghost (A Walk-In),” serves well as a transitional interlude that helps lower the energy of the EP down to a more plaintive state heard decisively in “Isn’t it Nice to Be Asleep?,” track five. Ending the song with the same riff as heard throughout most of the piece is a great way to bring the energy down and is a well-arranged conclusion. Lastly, the use of fuzz on the bass part during the tune’s choruses is extremely effective and welcomed. The “chill” ostinato parts really help unfamiliar ears grab onto something and propel the song towards “ear-worm” status. “This Ghost” sounds like we’re taking a trip back to late 1990’s – in all the right ways. By track two, the album has the potential to firmly grab its listeners ears, and this fact continues to solidify with the following track. A violin in the distance only further adds to the richness of the song’s instrumentation, which is mainly built around choruses. As the melody begins, it becomes quickly apparent how easily it floats along. It’s wonderfully alternative rock sounding and catchy even before the vocals enter. The following tune, “Bored to Death,” starts with a full-band intro, including drums, bass, guitar, and synth. One word permeates this intro: restlessness. Near the end of the intro track, we hear a kick drum enter into this cacophonic interlude. This is soon met with another synth part that climbs further and further up, creating an almost auditory illusion. And fast.īeginning with “Words / Behavior,” the album opens with a steady pulsating tone that persists over a descending synth.
The amount of maturity in Morris’ songwriting and arranging abilities is a bonafide “growth-spurt” in the ears of this listener, and those who dig into the record could very easily find themselves wanting more from the artist. An EP consisting of 9 songs, with four of them being interludes, the album makes for a quick and extremely enjoyable listen. TROY – Due out for release on September 9 th, Holy Land, the latest in a prolific catalogue of songwriter, Asa Morris, aims quickly to be one of, if not their best work.
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