Au Revoir Borealis "Tienken" 2000 (24:40)
Heavens
Downward (5:10)
(:35)
Waldorf
Theft Song (4:19)
(3:55)
Monolith
(5:38)
(5:03)
Au Revoir Borealis (clever name, eh?) are a four piece band from Detroit who have played live with Jessica Bailiff, Windy & Carl, The Autumns, LN and the like. They appeared last year on volume 1 of E+J Recordings "Sculpting Nick Drake" tribute and "Tienken" is their self produced and released debut EP. Six tracks, half of which are titled songs and the other half untitled instrumentals, make up the 25 minutes. Points of reference for their sound, besides those they've played with, might include Cocteau Twins with a dash of Sigur Ros and a pinch of My Bloody Valentine. "Heavens Downward" poeticizes a nighttime snowfall against a lush electric guitar/synth cloud and gentle bass/drums pulse. Stephanie Halpert's heavenly voice repeats 'I could lose myself in this' as I think the same thing to myself, though I'm referring to the music rather than the precipitation. "Waldorf Theft Song" is a tad more upbeat with more of a synth pad presence and guitars restrained to non distorted tones. Lyrically it centers around the mysterious lines 'falling away into the waiting field' (or is it 'into the way you feel'?) and 'the Waldorf is something I might like to steal'. After the rhythmic synth gurgling of interlude track 4, the deeply moody "Monolith" slowly takes shape out of the atmospheric aether. Here the words are more personal and full of longing, Halpert begging 'hold my heart in your heart, say I can stay, can stay'. The final track gracefully closes the disc with pretty de-tuned guitar notes in an effected wash. A wonderfully emphatic and impressive debut. Here's hoping the next disc gives us much more. Be sure to play with their fun to navigate web site aurb.org ...
Where did I get this cd? - promo.