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Here's my pithy one-line summation of Trespassers William. It sounds like I'm making fun, but really I mean it only in the most complimentary way. Ready?
Slow-dance music for the prom at Depressed Shoegazer High.
Trespassers William first caught our notice with their shiver-inducing cover of Ride's classic "Vapour Trail," and this disc, the band's third full-length since 1999, shows that they can do just as well with their own original material. Sonically it's a gorgeous album, with the band displaying the same penchant for E-bow, deep reverb, and textural electronics as Sigur Rós, though without that band's otherworldly idiosyncrasies. The album was recorded here in Seattle by the band, and then handed off to über-producer Dave Fridmann for mixing and additional production work; his trademark distorted-drum sound can be heard on the track "Ledge." "And We Lean In" starts with a gently folky basis and develops hypnotically with intertwining guitar parts and shimmering, floating sonic slivers. Their most ethereal song, "Eyes Like Bottles," is also the shortest, although closing track "Matching Weight" has a 6-minute droning ambient outro.
At the eye of Trespassers William's slow-moving storm is the vocals of Anna-Lynne Williams, whose Aimee Mann/Mimi Parker alto is the very manifestation of ache and resignation. The dispassion of her voice strikes a perfect balance with the angst of the lyrics, just the right tension between understated and overwrought. Thematically the songs center mostly around love unrequited, repressed, deferred, and denied, with violence, inflicted by the self or by others (and sometimes it's ambiguous which) being used metaphorically in "Ledge" and in the crescendoing "I Don't Mind." The songwriting shows complimentary instincts for balance: the most "I-want-to-die" song, lyrically speaking (appropriately titled "Low Point"), is the least heavy and most traditional sounding, which seems wise. If you're in the right emotional state (and I'm sorry if you are), this album will resonate your heartstrings like the E-bow that the band employs, and if you're not, you can still luxuriate in the beautiful sounds. (mike.04.06)
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