Liam Singer has become one of my favorite artists
putting out larger than life pop records over the last few years. This is the
fourth release form the Queens local, and in my estimation, the record that
breaks him into a larger audience than the music blogs and indie radio stations
that have been championing him.
Singer has always taken parts of the 60s and 70s layered pop
approach and spun his own voice into those genres. I figure most that listen to
Arc Iris will immediately make a comparison to Pet Sounds and Sufjan Stevens,
but those influences are only part of this record’s approach. Liam’s melancholy
tone and lyrics are a far cry from the sunny summer psychedlia of Brian Wilson,
and Singer’s elegant use of instrumentation puts him on a different path than
the odd chord and timing arrangements studied in the classic Beach Boy records.
“Stranger I Know,” my favorite track off the album, captures a man trying to
find elation and release in the darkness of the city and the copious strangers
that inhabit it.
This is a record to be heard with the highest quality audio
equipment you have (your dinky laptop speakers will not do it justice). So bust
out the Hi-fi headphones, check out the free to download songs, and then kick
Hidden Shoal Records a few bucks for putting out this wonderful record.
Buy it here:
Download some of it here:
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