Ottewell’s excellent “Lost Track” picks up on the earlier atmosphere adding cello amid mild, reflective lyrics. “Win Park Slope” is a radiant dreamscape coloured beautifully by the addition of Amy Milan’s haunting vocals. A contender for album highlight “Bone Tired” has so much atmospherics going on within it that it is a joy to play time and again.
The single “Airstream Driver” picks up the tempo with a fuzzy hook that will capture the hearts and minds of any Gomez fan. Once again, they defy any attempts to pigeon hole, to categorize, and, of course, they are all the stronger for it.
Suffice it to say that the best way to approach the album is to anticipate a delightfully unexpected twist here and there. The result is a compulsive ride that closely rivals anything previously done by the band and has many earthy gems to enjoy.
“Natural Reaction” is one of those jewels. Set as if in the shadow of Golden Gate Park, it’s a brief reminder of a past generation that sits amid delightfully quirky diversions. This track just glows, and is more California than Southport, for sure.
It is smoothly followed by the gently addictive hook that is “Very Strange”, and the moving ballad, “Other Plans”. “Sunset Gates” is the aptly named closing track that successfully ends an album with few weaknesses.
The band’s strength has always been their freewheeling experimentation. With music flowing from three different sources within the band they have once again conjured up a highly satisfying musical journey. A New Tide is an album that will plant itself into your mind, take root, and slowly grow.
It provides a fitting tenth anniversary to their award winning debut, Bring It On. And Bring It On is exactly what they have done with this one.
Catch up with reaction to the album and visit the band on their MySpace page.
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