Love Lives in the Body

 

Soft Blue Shimmer

Love Lives in the Body

(Other People)

Love Lives in the Body is Soft Blue Shimmer’s second album, and as I’ve said before, this band’s sound is one that I love!  I have trouble writing about them.  My love for them does not elicit any kind of narrative.  I just enjoy their music.  It seems to be deeply rooted in me.  I remember a time when I was in my early twenties and in love with the idea of love.  I had experienced, in a big way, that early electric bliss that comes with a fresh crush/relationship and on the other side of the coin, around the same time, I had gone through a lot of serious heartbreak and loss.  I became a mess of emotions and conflict.  Everything in life became exceedingly poignant and powerful.  Inevitably, all of the songs I loved from that era that evoked any direct emotions from those experiences, all still tap into those vivid days.  I began to amass a soundtrack for those times.  Songs that poked the bruises of those emotions were of a wide variety of sounds, but are all linked in their own genre that only makes sense to me.  Soft Blue Shimmer’s warm sound envelops me into that world – a world of my deepest desires and regrets - the things that bring tears to my eyes.  Their songs mean a lot to me in a deeply embedded way.  Perhaps, they’ve stumbled upon just the right dose of bittersweet.  I miss the feeling of feeling so much.  Age and accumulation of experiences, at least for me, has numbed me, despite my best intentions to avoid it.  Hearing music like this makes me feel alive.  In some ways, I need to keep that bruise going.

Love Lives in the Body, indeed.  Much like Soft Blue Shimmer’s music lives in my body.  Main vocalist, Meredith takes a breath in and out to open their second album, before we are set into their stunning musical realm.  It’s like a ‘here we go’ prep.  Their wash of soft buzzing guitars, plush drums, and Meredith’s heavenly vocals are always pleasing, and it’s about then when I realize that I will be listening to these songs a lot!

The slow unfurling of the pre-LP single, “Prism of Feeling,” is beautiful as it blooms into a sound that one wants to hear again and again.  This is similar to the rising earnestness of “Cloudless.”  “9090” is the most upbeat song, while “Memory / Fantasy” is quite melancholy with matching incredibly visual and poetic lyrics.  Definitely my early favorite.

The album unfolds in an unusual way.  It leans toward the dreamy side early, and increases the tempo and pop hooks as it progresses.  SBS, have found a magical balance between the shoegazey elements I love and the crisp fizz of indie pop, which I love as much.  They remind me a bit of 90s legends, Majesty Crush, only without the creepy and sinister lyrics.  I feel a profound loss in these songs, thought I am likely projecting, as they explore not just the emotional loss of a loved one, but the physical one as well.  It’s a thought-provoking thread to consider and deeply felt.  Maybe that’s part of what poking the bruise is all about.  So often, we mourn the emotional loss, but not the little things, like just the right touch to the forearm at just the right time.  Love Lives in the Body evokes all of that.

The dichotomy between the darkness of the words and the bright music is fantastic - something that has always appealed to me!  On their Bandcamp page they let us know that they’re here to make you think about stuff or forget about stuff.  Could not be more accurate.  Timeless music!  Their records are like the best candy that we all try to save to consume last.   

(https://softblueshimmer.bandcamp.com/album/love-lives-in-the-body)

Soft Blue Shimmer "Prism of Feeling"

From Capelton Hill

 

Canadian six-piece, Stars, have hit pay dirt with their 9^th album!  I shouldn’t say that, because they have always been consistently good.  They have earned my loyalty.  If they release new music, I will purchase it unheard.  Stars have returned to form!  This, is also untrue.  As I said before, they have always been great!  However, they did set the bar very high from their humble beginning as an electronic duo in 2001 (I was drawn in by their cover of the Smiths “This Charming Man”), to the expanded four-piece lineup enhanced LP Heart, then to the amazing all-time classic that is their third LP, 2004’s Set Yourself on Fire.  It was this LP that blew my mind.  An album that somehow captured some kind of unholy crossing of the Beautiful South and the Delgados.  Capturing a melodrama filled with broken relationships and heartbreak with fantastic orchestral string-laden arrangements.  It was an impossible album to follow, and to be fair, they’ve done an incredible job trying.  Their albums are all consistently good to great, and they always bring that Fire melodrama and energy to their live performances.  However, From Capelton Hill brings back the strings and their secret weapon of having their lead singers, Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan sing most of the songs together.  I don’t know what it is, but the seamless combination of their voices seems to elevate the lyrics to another level.  Every song feels that much more important and crucial. 

It’s pretty remarkable that 21 years on this band has released an album so inspired that it plays like a best of collection.  Drop the needle anywhere and you’re in a song that sounds like it should be a single.  This record is informed by all of their past.  They have the dramatic duets full of desperate, sad and longing words from their early work, busy arrangements like their great 2010 single “Fixed.”  They’ve got the disco inspired dance numbers (a la the No One is Lost LP) of “Build a Fire” and “If I Never See London Again” (more of a Pet Shop Boys-styled circa ’89 Euro-disco triumph), and wonderful ballads such as “Patterns,” “That Girl,” and “Snowy Owl.”  Sure, the dramatics can be a bit overboard at times, like in “To Feel What They Feel,” but I think we all need to be bludgeoned over the head to gain some needed empathy for others, if we’re ever going to get out of our current ugly state of affairs culturally. 

It’s downright remarkable that they can pump out such all-time songs like “Palmistry,” “Pretenders,” and the cinematic “Back at the End,” and “Capelton Hill.”  Personally, I have always loved Amy Millan’s vocals, and this is the album where she is a part of every song!  And a special shout out to Evan Cranley, as the basslines here are fun and lively.  It is truly inspiring to hear a band this engaged after doing this for so long. 

(https://starsband.bandcamp.com/)

Stars "Capelton Hill"