Tag: ODESZA

ALBUM REVIEW: ODESZA “In Return”

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Since its inception in late 2012, the Seattle-based electronic duo ODESZA (Harrison Mills/Catacomb Kid and Clayton Knight/BeachesBeaches) has been both prolific and consistent. In particular, the pair made an unlikely fan out of this usually-EDM-ambivalent listener last November with the soulful and sparkly NO.SLEEP Mix.01, which oozed with personality and R&B inflected melodies. In the two years they’ve been together, Mills and Knight have also put out two full length albums, an EP, and a handful of remixes. They already have a cross-country tour under their belt, and played Sasquatch! Festival last Memorial Day weekend in the luminous company of acts such as Bon Iver and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. ODESZA’s strength has always been their ability to infuse their songs with soul; amidst the bevy of synths and over-saturated shimmering, the music never pales to clinical.

In Return, the duo’s release, demonstrates a broad range of emotion, from the elated and catchy opener “Always This Late”–which reminds me of pretty much all of NO.SLEEP Mix.01–to tracks like “White Lies,” which draws on syncopated beats and the sharp harmonies of guest vocalist Jenni Potts, to the impressionistic and heat-sleepy “Sun Models.”

I appreciate the variation, though my favorites from this collection still exemplify the sweet soulfulness that endeared me to ODESZA in the first place. The record is front-loaded, with its catchiest, and ultimately most memorable songs listed as tracks one, two, and three– “Always This Late,” “Say My Name,” and Bloom.” However, on the group’s previous releases, there was a case to be made that their albums got boring in the middle. Some of In Return‘s back-half tracks, like “Koto,” show off new textures that liven up the repertoire and keep the music interesting, if sort of identity-less.

Having mastered lovable vocal riffs and bubbly musical landscapes, ODESZA turns, on In Return, to experimental new depths. The result drops September 9th on Counter Records, and you can go here to order the gorgeous vinyl pressing, or stream via SoundCloud below:

 

TRACK REVIEW: Odesza’s “Sun Models”

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It’s mildly humorous that a production duo from Seattle would have a hit song by the name of “Sun Models.”  Western Washington alumni Harrison Mills (aka Catacombkid) and partner Clayton Knight (BeachesBeaches) make up Odesza, the pair that’s accumulated almost five million SoundCloud streams in the two years they’ve existed.  They’ve also been getting their fair share of radio play, and when I was visiting my native Washington State, I heard their latest single on the taste-making airwaves of KEXP.

“Sun Models,” which is fresh off of Odesza’s 2014 album of the same name, is a beachy and blissful track that I assume will be played throughout the summer months.  It opens with the warm crackling of a dust caked record, as well as a few chicken-pecked keys peppering in a dull, tinny drum effect.  The vocals, provided by Michigan soul singer Madelyn Grant, register as a languid ripple through still water.  They are nearly recognizable as words, but morph into liquefied croons thanks to the shrill frequency of the vocoder.  I can’t help but notice the proximity to the vocal manipulations of Grimes mastermind Claire Boucher.

The song is danceable without a doubt, but not in an aggressive way.  It’s a relaxed track that drifts somewhere between melancholic and bright.  Smears of twinkling keys glide over a crescendo of strobe-worthy synths of the European House ilk, while eerie calls float in and out.

In response to their ever-growing exposure, Odesza has kicked off a massive U.S. tour that will go into May.  The pair have added a couple of Canadian dates for our friends up north.

 

Check out “Sun Models” and dates below:

 

 

 

 

Wed. Feb. 12 – Pawtucket, RI @ The Met *

Thu. Feb. 13 – Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts *

Fri. Feb. 14 – New York, NY @ Best Buy Theater *^

Sat. Feb. 15 – Boston, MA @ Paradise *

Sun. Feb. 16 – Baltimore, MD @ Soundstage Baltimore *

Tue. Feb. 18 – Leesburg, VA @ Tally Ho Theater *

Wed. Feb. 19 – Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theatre *

Thu. Feb. 20 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel *

Fri. Feb. 21 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West *

Sat. Feb. 22 – Athens, GA @ Georgia Theatre *

Thu. March 13 – Spokane, WA @ The Bartlett

Fri. March 14 – Bozeman, MT @ Zebra Cocktail Lounge

Sat. March 15 – Missoula, MT @ Palace Billiards

Fri. March 21 – Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Festival

Sat. March 22 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge %

Sun. March 23 – Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge

Tue. March 25 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sister

Thu. March 27 – Houston, TX @ Fitzgerald’s #

Fri. March 28 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada #

Sat. March 29 – Austin, TX @ Stubbs Jr #

Tue. April 1 – Phoenix, AZ @ Rhythm Room #

Wed. April 2 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah #

Thu. April 3 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Echoplex #

Fri. April 4 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent # (SOLD OUT)

Sat. April 5 – Arcata, CA @ The Jambalaya #

Sun. April 6 – Eugene, OR @ WOW Hall #

Wed. April 9 – Victoria, BC @ Club 9one9  #

Thu. April 10 – Vancouver, BC @ Venue #

Fri. April 11 – Portland, OR @ Holocene #

Sat. April 12 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos #

Fri. May 9 – Toronto, ON @ Tattoo (Canadian Music Week)

 

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MIXTAPE REVIEW: “NO.SLEEP Mix.01”

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Coming on the heels of September’s My Friends Never Die EP and its subsequent remixes, Seattle duo ODESZA (Harrison Mills aka Catacombkid and Clayton Knight aka BeachesBeaches) have curated NO.SLEEP Mix.01, the first in what is to be a series of mix tapes. The group has a penchant for sun-drenched harmony and music that feels less like melodic-based music than it does a three-dimensional immersive environment, a surround-sound experience of lush bass hums and trilling melodies that shimmer like wind chimes over a beat. Those familiar with ODESZA’s work won’t be surprised to hear that NO SLEEP, released November 20th, delivers an array of songs featuring warm vocal harmonies and re-assuringly upbeat bass lines.

Tracks wind together and morph into each other. The group maintains a more or less even tempo throughout this album–danceable,  but not frantic, with ample space given for each beat to expand to its full reverberation–and strike a balance between catchiness and intimacy. KAASI & TÂCHES’S onomatopoetic “Heartbeats” features broken vocals and a pulse of beat that you can feel almost physically (and would feel literally physically, if you were hearing the track performed live). Catchy, often R&B-based vocal hooks mark the movement from track to track, punctuating a low-key bottom line groove common to nearly every song. Voices are commonly left undoctored, their organic warmth accentuated by a surreal, heavily re-mixed backdrop. This is especially effective on Laura Mvula’s “She (Eagles For Hands Remix),” a quietly powerful number with heavy soul influences.

The tracks “Not Giving In” by Rudimental and “Two Dots” by Lusine, two songs so complementary that, after having heard the mix tape, it would be difficult to talk about them separately, stood out on this album. Two experiments in simplicity–individual expressions, but integral to one another. A single act of setting a melody in motion and watching it cause a chain reaction, making harmonies with itself and generating a momentum that carries one song into another.

The juxtaposition between raw and artificial–the evocation of a single motif, coming from two different angles and several different artists, comprised the theme of this mixtape. Aided by the collection’s pondering aesthetics, NO.SLEEP explores the tensions within the songs to their fullest extent.

Listen to ODESZA’S “My Friends Never Die (Little People Remix),” their contribution to the NO.SLEEP mix, via Soundcloud:

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