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| Annuals are a six-piece indie rock band from North Carolina. They’ve recently supported Jarvis Cocker and Flaming Lips and also blew more well-established acts away at All Tomorrow’s Parties. But despite ticking all the right boxes for me, I hadn’t encountered anything by them until their single ‘Brother’ and, shortly after, the full length debut album Be He Me arrived on my doormat. |
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After a cursory glance over my record collection, I’m struggling to think of a better album-opener than ‘Brother’. From its quiet, thoughtful beginnings, it lays down the foundations for a storming, euphoric finale. It’s the type of song that makes you want to climb to the highest point of the surrounding area, hook up a sound system that would make Metallica jealous and play at top volume so everyone in a 15 mile radius can appreciate it. To say that, when listening to it for the first time, I was reminded of my introduction to Arcade Fire, which is high but extremely fitting praise.
Despite such a powerful and memorable opening, the rest of the album doesn’t suffer in comparison. Shades of the Americana produced by Sufjan Stevens or Andrew Bird are offset by folkier tracks which wouldn’t be out of place on an Animal Collective record, and every other song seems to contain a sing-along refrain, rousing finale or goosebump-inducing harmonic climax.
‘Complete or Completing’ manages to show off the band’s full range, welding disparate influences together into a seamless and congruous five minute package. In fact, this tessellation of source material is exhibited throughout Be He Me in a constant stream of inventiveness and interest. Songs often metamorphose and shape-shift subtly upon a theme whilst retaining their essence and charm.
‘Ida, My’ surprises and delights with the addition of a squelchy electronic lead, and the subsequent ‘Father’ is reminiscent of Canadian bands Molasses or Arcade Fire with military drums, careful development and intelligent lyrics.
In all honesty, the layered complexity and attention to detail of every track is such that it would be easy to write a short essay on each. But as tempting as that is, it wouldn’t make for the most interesting of reads and, to that effect, you’ll have to take my word that each track is as meticulously crafted as the ones that I’ve already done little justice to in my descriptions.
As the album draws to a close I find myself reaching once more for the play button and I can’t really award a higher honour than that. Annuals’ have created something at once raucous and relaxed, transcendent of generic boundaries yet retaining an allure which is homogenous in essence, an album which will easily withstand repeated and regular listens.
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| James Haddrill - 9/10 |
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