#samlrc

samlrc - a lonely sinner [album stimboard]

lamb lamb lamb

lamb lamb lamb

Genres: Post-Rock, Ambient, Shoegaze

REVIEW

This is EASILY the best project I've heard so far this year. Without a doubt. There isn't a second on this entire album that manages to bore me, which is very impressive considering the length of some of the songs on here. The production is impressive as hell, transitioning through calm, relaxing moments into fast-paced and exciting moments within the same tracks.

Opening with the calm yet perculiar ambient track 'Lamb Theme', the tone of the album is set immediately and expertly with sheep noises and undiscernible echoing sounds, eventually introducing a piano. We move on to the second track: 'Philautia'. This 12 minute masterpiece which is the first real song on the album introduces us excellently to samlrc's talent and style in creating music. The violins and acoustic guitar of the beginning of this track are reminiscent of the kind of music I'd expect to hear in Minecraft, and that's certainly a complement. Samlrc sings alongside a calming acoustic guitar in the middle of this track, which is abandoned after some time for a hype-inducing drum pattern that progresses the song. This leads into a standout guitar-part as the song comes to a close with airy vocals after the guitar has gone.

'Sinner' is a must-hear of this album. The strength of its middle section is unparalleled from almost any song I've listened to before, with powerful guitars and drums to keep a slow rhythm while the distortion booms in the background after the subtle beginning to the track. It's a must-have on your playlist, and debatably the best song on this album.

After leaving the title track, 'Flowerfields' presents us with a dramatic piano and hypnotic background vocals to soothe us from the sheer unstoppability of the last song. I'd contend this to be the least-enjoyable moment of the album, yet it manages still to be a pleasant listening experience. It still manages to be an excellent segue from 'Sinner' to 'Storge', this albums other 12-minute track. It opens with an odd arrangement of sounds, and vocals which are silly at best, but soon moves onward to create a tense atmosphere with booming, shoegaze-y guitars in the rigid rhythms which have come to suit samlrc well.

'Storge' is not a track to be underestimated, being my personal favourite on the album. It's cinematic vastness in the middle of the song is truly fantastic, crossing a hurricane of noise into the heavy guitar riffs that build into the end of the song. It's not often an album can make you feel like you're drifting through a lake on a lily pad AND make you want to headbang just tracks apart, but samlrc manages it. 'Storge' eventually moves into the calm territory just as it's about to end, completing the songs fantastic journey and fading seamlessly into 'Sheep Theme'. This is the only song I'd describe as standard. It doesn't present us with much uniqueness in terms of music, bar samlrc's tremendous production. Despite being 'standard', it's definitely a banger. Samlrc proves she can write the music of the everyman and the music of the experimentalist.

The triumphant 'For M.' is the last proper song on this album, and it is really a brilliant piece of music. It properly brings everything to a neat close halfway through the song, only to build itself up once again to guide us into the last track; 'The Beauty of the Present Moment'. I don't have much to say about the closing track, other than it's a very pleasant ambient piece which ties a bow on everything on our way out.

This is a brilliant listening experience for anyone wishing to do so. I could not recommend this more. The weakest aspect of this project is the wispy lead vocals which could use more definition, yet they still add to the atmosphere in many places. This is expertly produced, written, performed, and is enjoyable throughout

samlrc - Sheep Theme