CLOUD DREAMING by RELATIONS
CLOUD DREAMING by RELATIONS
— Lost City —
— When We Dream (beats) —
— Clear —
— Born Under The Snake —
— Leave It —
— Everything (police) —
— Control —
— Stars —
— In Front (whatevers) —
— Carry On —
— Forty-Three —
STREAM
MP3
MDRF035 | November 2016 | 39:00 | Digital Download Full-Length
Drifting through the 70s, 80s and 90s, Cloud Dreaming is a collection of soulful noise-pop anthems embodying that universal sense of longing and nostalgia.
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“Cloud Dreaming opens with the intertwining synths and guitars of “Lost City'“. The song has a bright, relaxed groove that frames Mike Sanders’ vocals to dramatic effect. The New Wave rocker “When We Dream (beats)” follows and Timothy Monaghan’s driving percussion gives the song a peppy bounce and depth. “Clear” is immersive, dreamy rock with towering drums and soaring riffs. “Born Under the Snake” has shades of classic rock in its driving rhythm, dynamic arrangement, and push/pull melody.
“Leave It” opens with a cinematic riff and soon silvery synths and guitar strings chime out a verse. On the song’s sunny chorus and hypnotic outro, a celestial ode to Beach Boys style harmonies calls out as waves of instrumentation crash down upon the tune. A pulsing electronic tone beeps out the opening notes of “Everything (police)” as layers of instrumentation are added. Terence Murren’s bass shines through here as it complements the variety of reactions and interactions the song’s seemingly disparate parts have with one another in pleasantly tense ways.
There is also the British Invasion meets New Wave of “Control” and the rock and roll grandeur of “Stars” with slick riffs that shoot out like a switchblade to deftly punctuate the tune’s vocal melody. A shimmying riff and unyielding percussion propels “Carry On” to its colossal outro and “Forty-Three” closes out the album with churning synths and clean metallic guitars under its sky high vocals. While Cloud Dreaming does vascillate quickly between sounds, it manages to create an uncompromising and coherent atmosphere that Relations keeps up from the album’s first track to its last.” — Justin Hernandez, IMPOSE MAGAZINE