Something Like Sound

I am a fan of the anthemic.

Last night, as I was tooling around on my computer, trying to buckle down and finish some standing assignments, I hopped on iTunes. A few months ago I got a gift certificate for their online store, and had $3.94 sitting there, waiting to be used on something worthwhile.

Meanwhile, back in Facebook-land, Danielle Anderson (of sandwich-eating fame) informed me that she is going to open for Gregory Alan Isakov at his October 17th vinyl release party/show at the Bluebird. More kicking around the internets and I found the other local band that will be playing that night: Eleanor. A few weeks ago I saw this band was following my Twitter feed, and I listened to their EP stream on MySpace.

Well, it must have been fate, because Eleanor’s debut EP Find Someone Who Believes You is only $2.97 on iTunes. I bought that business and now I’ll share my thoughts on the 17.8 minutes of music now sitting in my hard-drive.

“I Have Made A Plan To Fly Away” is a flowing track drenched in reverb. A musical theme threads its way through the melody and layered instruments as they ebb and flow. A buildup occurs and the song flourishes before reverting to a capella voices.

The transitional song “Would I Have Chosen You?” dances along the lines of sleepy afternoons and haunting questions of ‘what if?’

Closing out the rather short record is the nearly 9-minute “It Takes One To Know One / Reprise,” a somber reflection on relationships gone awry. About halfway through the song, another musical theme begins to build. The plucked violins reminded me of Andrew Bird as the song began to build toward a crescendo. Intricate drum-work builds in and drops out as the song ends out (again with a capella vocals).

Watch a video from the recording of “I Have Made A Plan To Fly Away”