Pulse#149
SETTING SUN (Young Love Records, USA)
[ Indie / Elettroacustica / Pop ]
http://www.myspace.com/settingsun
http://www.settingsun.cc/
Mercoledì 10 novembre,
h.21 @ La Mela di Newton Via della Paglia, 2 - PD
I Setting Sun di Gary Levitt, ormai al quarto disco in carriera, ribadiscono il concetto che la psichedelia non necessita sempre di un immaginario lisergico. Fantasurreal è un incrocio di melodie pop, atmosfere folk e tappeti synth(etici), che richiamano tanto il David Bowie dei primi dischi quanto gli attuali MGMT.
Brani come la piccola gemma acustica Sacrifice o la più incalzante Into The Wire, non sono frutto del caso, ma di una maturità acquisita col tempo. L'album regala trentacinque minuti circa di frivolezze pop, deviazioni folk e armonie agrodolci di buona fattura, capaci di cullare piacevolmente i pensieri, dipingendoli a tinte forti senza causare capogiri o pericolosi voli pindarici. Una musica innocente e ricca di fantasia.
qui trovate un'esaustiva bio (in inglese)
Largely the work of one man, Gary Levitt, Setting Sun creates a fantastical mix of whimsy and brightly hued pop matched to a surreal lyrical sensibility that's the product of either a vivid imagination or some good drugs.
Levitt's whispery vocals might remind listeners of a less depressed Elliott Smith. Levitt mixes softly cooed choruses and murmured spoken-word verses giving the sense that he's playing and singing to himself. This personal, confiding style lends the music its defining intimacy. Levitt the storyteller is immediately alluring, offering an inviting closeness in the whisper and croon of his honest lyrics.
On the latter, Levitt seems fond of tape saturation as well, pushing the cut's big drum beat into the red for a fuzzy tom sound. Here We Go Magic's Jennifer Turner joins him for "Into the Wire," which turns out to be lyrically more mundane, with Levitt singing about doing dishes, cleaning the bathroom and making the bed over a sparkling pop melody.
Cuts like the leadoff "Driving" and the six-minute paean to sustained adolescence, "Don't Grow Up," recall Grandaddy in their mutations of organic instrumentation.
Perhaps most out-there (or "fantasurreal," to use the new parlance) is "The Sympathetic CEO" which is sung from the point of view of an executive sitting on top of the world, though, it sounds like it comes from the bottom of the deep blue. Whatever, you want to call it, Setting Sun has made an album that's wonderfully weird.
When not on the road, Gary is at home in the studio where he records himself and other artists. His approach is in the spirit of "I'm gonna have fun in the studio and explore". Trumpet lines blare optimistic over a melancholy verse. String lines grace softly over pounding drums. This dichotomy is one of the elements making Levitt's music stand out from the lot, a sense of optimism beautifully cohabits with some serious melancholy. It sounds of drive, love, and enjoyment, even when it acknowledges dejection.
Gary produces, records and plays most of the instruments with help from friends Lawrence Roper (back vox), Erica Quitzow from Quitzow (strings, back vox) and Jen Turner from Here We Go Magic (bass back vox). Drawing upon a spectrum of emotions and sounds, the music of Setting Sun ranges from traditional rock instrumentation to exotic hallucinatory synth patches, strings, horns and lush orchestral sounds. Inspired by classic songs with contagious melodies, Gary's voice has been compared to David Bowie and Elliott Smith and his arrangements to Arcade Fire, MGMT and The Beatles. However, this man has his own set of pipes with an unmistakeable purity and directness. This record marks Setting Sun as a mainstay on the indie scene as Gary further carves a niche writing and producing another soaring batch of sweepingly beautiful indie pop songs.
Post
