Monday 12 December 2011

Slave Ambient

Artist: The War On Drugs
Album: Slave Ambient
Release Date: 15/8/2011

An expansive an epic take on the psycadelic sounds that have come before them

The psycadelic mind has always been one of the most powerful and potent tools in music. From Syd Barret and Can all the way through to The Horrors' monumental third album "Skying" released earlier this year, drug- addled creative juices have always given way to some of the most creative and sonically visual releases in modern music.

The War On Drugs obviously take the vast majority of their influences from the past. "Slave Ambient", just like "Wagonwheel Blues" before it, reeks of Springsteen, a more epic Velvet Underground and Tom Petty. However this time around so well structured and so uniquely- tinged are the songs that it's fair to say TWOD put almost entirely their own, Bob Dylan- in- 2015 twist on a sound that is ultimately a sum of their influences.

"Brothers" sounds like Bob Dylan fronting Pavement with slightly more colourful ouvre with its clear- cut picking and relentlessly driving drums. "Your Love Is Calling My Name" is an epic 6- minute venture into a world of woozy guitar effects and a heavy sense of epicness in the endearingly grandiose synths. This same sense of sonic freedom is shared by album centre- piece "Come To the City", a propulsive '80s daytime rock masterpiece complete with soaring synths, pounding drums and reverberating guitars.


Whereas "Wagonwheel Blues" held most of its charm in its walls of haze and guitar fuzz, "Slave Ambient" is altogether a much more expansive and more profound listen. It's beautiful soundscapes, usually conjured by a conjunction of soaring and glistening synths and bristling guitar lines give it a sense of roving freedom that few have managed to capture since Bruce Springsteen's mid- 80s heyday. Next time you take a road trip for the summer, make sure "Slave Ambient" is your drivetime choice; you most certainly won't regret it.

Download: 1) Your Love Is Calling My Name, 2) Come To The City, 3) Brothers
For Fans Of: Kurt Vile, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan

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