Monday, June 24, 2013

Liam Singer – Arc Iris (2013)



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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