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	<title>synthpop Archives - Various Small Flames</title>
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	<title>synthpop Archives - Various Small Flames</title>
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		<title>Pat Moon &#8211; Romantic Era</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2018/06/19/pat-moon-romantic-era/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Liam Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 19 Jun 2018 10:50:26 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oregon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PAT MOON]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Portland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[synthpop]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[usa]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://varioussmallflames.co.uk/?p=15026</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Back in 2016 we featured Don&#8217;t Hide From the Light, the debut album from Pat Moon, the recording project of Portland resident Kate Davis. It was an intriguingly atmospheric record of what we labelled &#8220;ecclesiastical electro-pop,&#8221; describing it as &#8220;at once insular and expansive [&#8230;] like a private ceremony within an abandoned church, solemn and serious and sacred [&#8230;] yet instantly recognisable, a likeness of our own inner-thoughts.&#8221; Now Pat Moon is back with a sophomore effort, Romantic Era, which [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2018/06/19/pat-moon-romantic-era/">Pat Moon &#8211; Romantic Era</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Back in 2016 we featured <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2016/07/15/pat-moon-dont-hide-light/"><em>Don&#8217;t Hide From the Light</em></a>, the debut album from Pat Moon, the recording project of Portland resident Kate Davis. It was an intriguingly atmospheric record of what we labelled &#8220;ecclesiastical electro-pop,&#8221; describing it as &#8220;at once insular and expansive [&#8230;] like a private ceremony within an abandoned church, solemn and serious and sacred [&#8230;] yet instantly recognisable, a likeness of our own inner-thoughts.&#8221;</p>
<p>Now Pat Moon is back with a sophomore effort, <em>Romantic Era</em>, which sees Davis continue to craft a sound and feeling that’s all her own. Ethereal and dreamy, and very much focused towards the romance of the title, the record has touchstones as varied as Kate Bush and Cocteau Twins, as well as acts like Nancy Kells’s <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/tag/spartan-jet-plex/">Spartan Jet-Plex</a>, resulting in 10 songs of goth pop perfection.</p>
<p>First song ‘Moon in Aquarius’ pulses gently with soft keys and Davis’s otherworldly vocals, a synth pop song not for neon-lit cityscapes but rather forest fog and candlesmoke. As the title suggests, &#8216;Medieval Spells’ has a similar vibe, the Julianna Barwick-esque vocals soaring and echoing across a track as dark and spacious as the night sky.</p>
<blockquote>
<h5>“There is magic in our eyes<br />
we’re more than body more than mind<br />
life will change it always has<br />
ancient trees burning down”</h5>
</blockquote>
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<p>This feeling continues across <em>Romantic Era</em>. Part spellbook, part hymnal, it&#8217;s an album to get lost in, to wade into and float away. &#8216;Spiraling’ sounds bright and weightless, twinkling keys flashing and whooshing like will-o&#8217;-the-wisps, although the lyrics about a troubled relationship cast a long shadow, while &#8216;Longing for the Infinite’ builds from a dramatically sombre opening, as if delivered from some dark and cavernous cloister, before neon-streaks light the whole thing up, like Elmo&#8217;s fire or biblical tongues of flame.</p>
<p>&#8216;I Belong’ is a song fraught with a lifelong sense of displacement and unease, a bitter acceptance that things change and that, sometimes, change hurts. &#8220;Time is moving faster now,&#8221; Davis sings, &#8220;I thought change would lift us somehow, I feel life moving all around, and I don&#8217;t think I can settle down.&#8221; These relatable sentiments wash over like banks of fog, as if conjured from the midst of some vast ocean, and it&#8217;s hard not to attribute some greater meaning or power.</p>
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<p>And this is perhaps the most remarkable thing about <em>Romantic Age</em>. The way Pat Moon captures the essence of some very real, twenty-first century woes in a way that’s so far removed from the mundanities of day-to-day life that it feels transcendental. Therefore, the supernatural and mystical links are not so much driving forces behind the creative process, but rather the way the album frames very human problems, repositioning the ordinary as something with an almost religious level of meaning.</p>
<p>You can get <em>Romantic Era</em> now from the Pat Moon <a href="https://patmoon.bandcamp.com/album/romantic-era">Bandcamp page</a>.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2018/06/19/pat-moon-romantic-era/">Pat Moon &#8211; Romantic Era</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
					
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">15026</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Future Islands &#8211; Singles</title>
		<link>https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2014/03/12/future-islands-singles/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jon Doyle]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 12 Mar 2014 15:59:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[4AD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Baltimore]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bon iver]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[electronic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[future islands]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Wave]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pop]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Singles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[synthpop]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the national]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.wakethedeaf.co.uk/?p=261</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Baltimore synth-poppers Future Islands are back with a new album Singles. The album is their first on indie mega-label 4AD (home to The National, Bon Iver et al.) and was promised to be the “boldest and most immediate work” in their impressive catalogue. While there is no reinvention of their sound, early signs suggest that the band make good on this promise. Opener ‘Seasons (Waiting On You)’ is the lead single from the album, and has a nice video courtesy of [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2014/03/12/future-islands-singles/">Future Islands &#8211; Singles</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Baltimore synth-poppers <a href="http://www.future-islands.com/" target="_blank">Future Islands</a> are back with a new album <em>Singles. </em>The album is their first on indie mega-label 4AD (home to The National, Bon Iver <em>et al.</em>) and was promised to be the “boldest and most immediate work” in their impressive catalogue. While there is no reinvention of their sound, early signs suggest that the band make good on this promise.</p>
<p class="Standard">Opener ‘Seasons (Waiting On You)’ is the lead single from the album, and has a nice video courtesy of director Jay Buim &#8211;  a visual slice of modern day Americana, shot on location in the Great Plains. It’s a really great track, the band’s trademark heartfelt new-wave with a belter of a chorus. I’m no tastemaker, but I can’t help but feel it could prove a popular hit, particularly as summer (and festival season) comes calling.</p>
<iframe class="youtube-player" width="1170" height="659" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-5Ae-LhMIG0?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-GB&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent" allowfullscreen="true" style="border:0;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox"></iframe>
<p class="Standard"><!-- more --></p>
<p class="Standard">A second track has also been given the video treatment, this time album closer ‘A Dream Of You And Me’, which has this amazing stop-motion video courtesy of Elena Johnston and William Cashion.</p>
<iframe class="youtube-player" width="1170" height="659" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/d5gUsnJX2oA?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-GB&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent" allowfullscreen="true" style="border:0;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox"></iframe>
<p class="Standard"><em>Singles</em> is out on the 25th of March, <a href="http://shopusa.4ad.com/singles" target="_blank">pre-order it now via 4AD</a>.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk/2014/03/12/future-islands-singles/">Future Islands &#8211; Singles</a> appeared first on <a href="https://varioussmallflames.co.uk">Various Small Flames</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
					
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">261</post-id>	</item>
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