6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Introspective daydream with beautiful pop melodies., May 19, 2009
Au Revoir Simone (Brooklyn-based trio comprised of Heather D' Angelo, Erika Forster and Annie Hart) release a new studio album on their own label, Our Secret Recording Company.
Apparently their strange and yet evocative and nostalgic name comes from a line in the cult movie Pee-Wee Herman's "Big Adventure".
Produced by Thom Monahan (Vetiver, Little Joy) and recorded in various studios between Brooklyn,NY, and Los Angeles, CA, the CD features songs written by all three ladies and has a strong thematic cohesion, as if composed by a singular voice.
They seem to take themselves a little more seriously on this set while keeping their signature sound.
They have described their disarmingly minimalist music quite accurately as "dreamy electronic lo-fi keyboard pop".
"Still Night, Still Light" finds the three ladies in a contemplative mood, musing on the emotional tolls of the touring lifestyle.
It's a record that details reflection, seeking, questioning and losing one's place on the page while looking for the right way home.
Considering the album's subject matter, maybe these early tracks are meant to represent the half-awake existence of the travelling musician, conveying the effect of constantly shifting between the buzz of the stage and the lull of the tour bus.
Having ditched the bells and whistles featured on their second album "The Bird Of Music", a fantastic dream where dancing penguins and talking panda's take you to the house you grew up in, this third effort focuses entirely on their keyboard drones, clunky-but-appealing rhythm tracks and curiously blank, though oddly appealing voices, still showing the ever-so-delicate, casio-heavy dream pop down as they explore their dark side.
It's more of an introspective daydream where a parallel world plays out like a movie if you only took the other path at that fork that was once in the road.
Brilliantly executed, warm and personal, the album combines its icy starkness with an almost contradictory fervour,choosing to retain its fragile beauty without ever breaking it.
"With pop melodies as winning as "Shadows" and the manically noodling "Knight Of Wands", you may soon find yourself quietly humming along". -BBC
The Bird of Music
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Love, love this Band, October 8, 2010
This trio is an inspiring act to pick up a keyboard and create sounds.
I love their poetic lyrics, their sounds, that drum machine and I can't stop listening to them.
This whole album is great, I can't pick out a favorite song but I will say that ALL or Nothing was the main song I heard on their website that made me want to buy this cd.
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