Freelance Whales - Diluvia

Freelance Whales - Sophomore album from New York's supremely esoteric and whip smart indie art-pop band is even more adventurous than their boldly thematic 2010 debut Weathervanes, an album we chose as one of the best of the year... frontman/songwriter Judah Dadone remains the main creative force but the new songs indicate a dramatic shift toward a real "group think" mentality in arranging...Shane Stoneback (Vampire Weekend) produced and engineered  // Release: Diluvia (October 9, Mom & Pop/French Kiss) // Sounds like: anyone wondering whatever became of "progressive" music need look no further: this is music that is both epic and intimate... the concept of a simple 4/4 time signature and verse/chorus/verse composition doesn't stand a chance as the Whales hurtle headlong into headspinning rhythms, a kitchen sink's worth of intricate, synth-vs.-organic instruments and twinkling sounds (hello banjo and glockenspiel!) topped off by seraphic vocals that turn the twisty, oblique melodies into amazingly elaborate productions...

Quote: "The 'busy' quality...is really inspired by minimalist composers...Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Phillip Glass, and others. The idea is to take lots and lots of little simple repetitious patterns and insisting them over and over but have them reflect on each other differently based on new parts that are coming in and parts that are exiting. So, while it’s pop music, it’s also based on that minimalist aesthetic of short insistent patterns that reveal new light on one another." - Judah Dadone // What we like: Diluvia may have a dreamy quality  -- thanks in part to the album's spacy, futuristic themes -- but these are vivid, fully-realized visions grounded in complex, intelligent composition and skilled musicianship..."Spitting Image" and "Locked Out" revel in the ornate trappings of band with big ideas and a wide colorful canvas to work with..."Winter Seeds" may be the album's prettiest song, a sweeping melody and lavish, elegant production...album closer "Emergency Exit" sends the listener off on a glorious symphonic high...

 

Freelance Whales - "Locked Out" (from Diluvia)

Freelance Whales - "Spitting Image" (from Diluvia)