Release Date: 23 October 2020
Song Count: 11
Duration: 43 minutes, 50 seconds
Rating: 7.5/10
Description:
Song Count: 11
Duration: 43 minutes, 50 seconds
Rating: 7.5/10
Description:
Here is a fascinating one - Don't Shy Away, the second album from a three-person band whose sound is tough to directly put into words or conventional labels and understandings of music. Does Loma count as rock for occasionally toying around with electric guitars, folk for utilising traditional instruments from all around and unconventional noises for an organic feel, or ambient for the hypnotic effect of their works? Regardless of which specific labels one may lean towards as a valiant attempt to describe their art, one thing stands clear in particular with this record of theirs: it is not one for speakers or headphones of subpar quality, as there exist so many meticulous layers within the sound mixing that get easily lost in translation, so bring out your best means to listen to music for this one.
Emily Cross, one third of the band and the designated vocalist, provides her singing that leads right into the iridescent ambience of it all via its reverberation. Using both digital and traditional sounding tools as well as heaps of sounds and details one may not even be able to pick out by raw ear, the instrumentation builds upon itself and metaphorically paints an entrancing soundscape that haunts and glows with its organic yet striking colours. This is backed by further individual details such as the use of gospel-like backing vocals in the likes of "Thorn" as well as the deliberate alternation between leaving out percussions and playing them in sequences where they go the best along with everything else. It all gives the sense of a series of breezes or waves that are gentle in nature yet contain something deeper and more artistic within.
This is another project that sinks into the depths of the listener's psyche with increased exposure rather than blowing things out of the water right away. Everything from the way each individual part of the listening experience connects into one coherent image to the structure along the way leads to something unlike anything most music listeners have ever heard prior, and it is all set up and executed in a highly creative and artistic way. Loma is a group that knows precisely what their vision is with the deeply unique music that they create and put out, and Don't Shy Away could not be a better demonstration of this. Definitely a sonical experience to seek out - again, with the right medium to listen to it, that is.