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Sonna, "Smile and the World Smiles With You"
Temporary Residence
In an age where the sophomore slump is more commonplace than a bandname that starts with "The," it's a pleasure to hear an album that doesnot show any chinks in a band's armor. Sonna's lovely secondfull-length effort is not a departure for the band in any way, and whata lovely treat that is. The band continues to craft fluid instrumentalguitar music without redefining the genre, but still in a unique enoughway not to draw comparisons, and varied enough not to bog the listenerdown. The first track, "Frone Taj," opens with fervor and energy, anddoesn't let up for its duration. Chiming, dueling guitar lines startthe track off, and when the drums kick in the song just soars. Thickbut sparse bass notes underlie the proceedings, and the bright andseemingly dischordant guitar line mixed with a very pretty noteprogression on the second guitar meld better than you'd expect. Then,the band slows things down considerably for the hypnotic "Open Ended,"which features a similar melody to the end of "The Opener" on Sonna'sdebut. It just grooves along, steady faded drums and muted bass joinedby that same chime and guitar bend. Elsewhere, Sonna drones out on "OneMost Memorable," and returns to their frenetic side on "The Right Age,"but only briefly. The tempo slows mid-song, turning the song into apleasant slow dance for lovers only. The final two tracks flow intoeach other, completing a sentence together, title-wise. "Smile" is adown-tempo mix of bass, echoed guitar, and droned swells with whatsounds a lot like a harmonica joining towards the end for a beautifulclimax while "And the World Smiles With You" finishes the record offmuch like it started, with crisp drumming, intertwined guitars, andpurposeful bass. It all quiets down towards the end with harmonics andpiano for a whole "in like a lion, out like a lamb" vibe that's justmagic. Sonna's not breaking any molds, but they're certainly growinginto their own space.
In an age where the sophomore slump is more commonplace than a bandname that starts with "The," it's a pleasure to hear an album that doesnot show any chinks in a band's armor. Sonna's lovely secondfull-length effort is not a departure for the band in any way, and whata lovely treat that is. The band continues to craft fluid instrumentalguitar music without redefining the genre, but still in a unique enoughway not to draw comparisons, and varied enough not to bog the listenerdown. The first track, "Frone Taj," opens with fervor and energy, anddoesn't let up for its duration. Chiming, dueling guitar lines startthe track off, and when the drums kick in the song just soars. Thickbut sparse bass notes underlie the proceedings, and the bright andseemingly dischordant guitar line mixed with a very pretty noteprogression on the second guitar meld better than you'd expect. Then,the band slows things down considerably for the hypnotic "Open Ended,"which features a similar melody to the end of "The Opener" on Sonna'sdebut. It just grooves along, steady faded drums and muted bass joinedby that same chime and guitar bend. Elsewhere, Sonna drones out on "OneMost Memorable," and returns to their frenetic side on "The Right Age,"but only briefly. The tempo slows mid-song, turning the song into apleasant slow dance for lovers only. The final two tracks flow intoeach other, completing a sentence together, title-wise. "Smile" is adown-tempo mix of bass, echoed guitar, and droned swells with whatsounds a lot like a harmonica joining towards the end for a beautifulclimax while "And the World Smiles With You" finishes the record offmuch like it started, with crisp drumming, intertwined guitars, andpurposeful bass. It all quiets down towards the end with harmonics andpiano for a whole "in like a lion, out like a lamb" vibe that's justmagic. Sonna's not breaking any molds, but they're certainly growinginto their own space.
