Jalal Andre’s latest project gloryBots presents this reverb-soaked and dreamlike rock offering that grows more intriguing and interesting as it progresses. Dream About Nothing, the album’s single and second track, is an absolute early highlight – introducing provocative ideas and a softly additive melody that draws you in for the long-run.
As you continue, songs like Syzygy keep the mood mellow but instrumentally full and reflective. The lyrics seem deeply personal yet the presentation has a level of distance about it – the balance between these two elements works well. It’s a striking song with some memorable flickers of personality about it. This creativity continues to grow elsewhere on the album.
Gold Politique fuses the acoustic and the electronic in a mellow but simultaneously uplifting manner. The story-line captivates, despite its reverb-soaked distance – it’s interesting, and there’s a certain joyfulness to the melody which contrasts quite intensely with the dark feel of the musicality as it progresses. The song features one of many powerful, emotional hooks that fill out the album.
Immolation has a far more indie-rock feel, the vocals are up close and personal, the instrumentation sounds familiar and very much like a real-time live performance. Fire In The Sun is another highlight for its immediately soothing guitar riff and its fascinating underlying concept. The poetry of the song and the careful way the soundscape has been crafted makes for something very easy to escape among. Le Monde follows with a beautifully uplifting ambiance, thoughtful, poetic lyrics, and a marching beat that leads you further and further into the emotion and energy of the moment.
Forces is a track that redirects the mood a little, emerging as a retro-electronic piece, atmospheric and dark, soon accompanied by a hopeful guitar riff, and finally by a whispered, entrancing vocal line that works beautifully in holding you close and calming you down. The chorus is unexpectedly intense, but it helps make this one of the more memorable tracks on the project. Run afterwards hits with indie-rock impact and feels like a live audience worthy anthem with a simple and easy to recognise melodic progression and chorus of voices. There’s also something quite manic about the drums here that adds to this sense of energizing togetherness.
Bringing through a little of everything from before – the experimentation, the atmospheric aura, the indie-rock – Afterlife is a song that notably pays tribute to the likes of Muse. A seductive, meandering vocal-line weaves in and around a chaotic and multi-layered soundscape. There’s plenty of drama to the performance and a certain, strangely intense lightness about the delivery and the recording style. Soon follows and introduces a Smiths-like rock ballad of distant warmth and an effective contrast between the gentle verses and the musically full hook.
gloryBots bring the playlist to a close with the gorgeously detailed and reflective World Of Curls – a stunning song and a definite final highlight. The synth-pop aura mixed in among the crisp hit of the drums gives the track a relevant, live feel, reminding you at the last hurdle that perhaps a live show is where these songs will really come alive. It’s a powerful playlist in itself though, in all honesty. The louder you listen, the more immersive the experience becomes. It’s authentic, heartfelt music to escape to. Well worth the time it takes to tune in.
https://soundcloud.com/user-495147057/02-dream-about-nothing-promo
