Australian band Solkyri has released a successor for their 2013 debut Where Are You My Brother?. This young post rock band from Sydney has evolved from a trio, consisting of guitarist Adam Mostek, bass player Andrew Pearsall and drummer/keyboard player Nicholas Hall, to a full quartet, when guitarist Ryan Fitz-Henry was added to the band's line-up. The addition of a second guitar player definitely enriches the band's over all sound, while in live situations this second guitar will bring more depth and warmth to the sound. On the new album Sad Boys Club, the instrumental music of Solkyri is accessible and melodic; nice melodies on multiple guitars are joined by adventurous drumming and when needed back-up keyboards. Musically the band shows a wide range of variety. When you, for example, compare a happy tune like Yes, I'm Breathing, which has a warm a positive vibe, to the short Kidnapped, what could be described as a sort of outburst of musical energy, you have two contrasting compositions woven together to finally create a unison. The title track Sad Boys combines what could be described as more “traditional” post rock with more melodic wave elements, which make the music move towards to a lighter side of rock. The whole atmosphere definitely is a bright and positive one and therefore the album Sad Boys Club sounds very accessible to me. On the album, three of the composition are under two minutes, both Kidnapped and Odmoriti do sound like soundscape style compositions to me and should be seen as extended intro's for the following songs, the other one; Beyond The Use Of Men is a nice minimalistic combination of guitar and piano, short and to the point. Absolutely brilliant is the song Be Good, I Love You, where Andrea Young adds a cello to a sole piano, creating an intimate sphere, which works well with the other slightly contrasting compositions. Forrah brings back the electric guitars and also a melody that has such a familiar sound, you immediately can hum along. The final composition on the album is the heavily orchestrated Farewell Bluebird, where the aforementioned cello is accompanied by Jacqui Carias on violin. A classical composition is the result, with hunches of The Beatles coming through. Solkyri has created an album that has two faces, on one side you have a positive form of post rock, which sounds very nice, on the other hand you have melancholic compositions that dare to show emotion and vulnerability. Sad Boys Club combines the two faces into a coherent, pleasant album to listen to. **** Pedro Bekkers (edited by Astrid de Ronde) Where to buy? |
