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Atlas - Endless Empty Spaces - 4 Track E.P - Released 17th October 2014
Atlas
Endless Empty Spaces
4 Track E.P
Released 17th October 2014
Unusual eye catching cover!
Atlas – Liverpool
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/atlasliverpool
Listen/Buy here:
https://atlasfactory.bandcamp.com/album/endless-empty-spaces
E.P Mastered by Tom Peters of Alpha Male Tea Party
All songs written and performed by (ATLAS)
All lyrics by Sam Jones
Produced by (ATLAS)
Recorded and Mixed at (ATLAS) Studios by Sam Jones
Mastered by Tom Peters
Artwork illustration by Leigh-Angel Bevan
Genre: Alternative Rock
Biography:
“Three lads and a lady making loud music of the Atmospheric / Alternative Rock kind. With influences from sweaty backroom indie to arena post-rock, the band create music that is both considered energetic and delicate in its quieter sections but uncompromising in its heavier passages!”
It is amazing what you come across when getting out and seeing local acts and Atlas first seen at the Zanzibar some few months back just stood out, so I asked them to play ‘Pandemonium’ at The Lomax on the 10th April 2014 the band agreed and opened the set with good feedback reverberating among the crowd.
Blossom / Open
No, this is not my usual listening guise but there is just ‘something’ about Atlas that has that appeal. Live, I found the band captivating and engaging. Maybe it is just their simple approach to song writing or it could be their haunting melodic rhythms, and crazy long title tracks, but whatever it is, they certainly do have that magnetic pull.
This track identifies the band’s trademark of uplifting tones and equal amounts of persuasion. Offering a stark but memorable vocal which spills out poignant lyrics that are hard to ignore, even if you don’t like ‘alternative’ As I said, it isn’t usually my ‘thing’ but it is quite easy to get wrapped up in the band’s unusual fine spun elements.
ChorusVerseChorusVerseChorusCalypso!
Another trademark from Atlas are their unusually long and involved track titles, mentioned above, this track being no exception to the rule. It simply bristles with an urgency and sneaky beat that probably got me ‘into’ them in the first place! In fact it was! This holds quite heavy passages at times interwoven with delicate structures, so you see it isn’t one thing or another – it is simply both! Although their tracks have that similar vein attached to them, and they all actually lend a hand to the harmonies, there is always something to tap your foot to and keep you focused.
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“A poignant, diverse and subtle listening experience!”
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Cycles (What Happened When I Had My Gnome Sequenced)
Different, unusual and holding artistic flare in the form of an eerie ambient smattering of originality. It isn’t fast, in fact it is slow (until further on in the track when it turns moody and has a rampageous moment) allowing you to paint your own images as Atlas love to write such angular musings that capture a form of innocence and holding staggering, magnetic appeal. The sounds are all engaging and littered with a dangerous brooding.
I lost my sight when I was young
Trying to learn what I’d become
Always closing off
The only doors that gave me answers
And all these words are ringing false
But we'll never have it all
We want is four brick walls
And ways to trap the running water
And what is it you seek here
How can we explain what really happened
Yesterday's destiny has disappeared
Over the frozen shoulder
Can we work it out still?
Does a place exist to feel connected?
Drifting off from our boat
With nowhere else to go or feel respected
I spent my time under the sun
Trying to swallow what I'd done
But all I found was
Endless empty spaces
There's never once a guarantee
That we can become who we
Want to be among the stars
That never ever seemed so far
And what happens to us now
Do we try to live in the coming Seconds?
Winter's coming faster than we had
Ever anticipated
Is time to give it up?
Is it time to break these endless cycles?
What we've got doesn't matter
When the planet shatters
Martyrs / The Man Who Fell to Earth
Clean authentic rhythms ring out with the tempered vocal entourage and a stark run of strings accompanied by subdued drumming, that is until later on when it briefly changes direction and tactfully offers a more rugged beat and enticing shrillness. The key to this E.P is simplicity but binding tentatively with poignant rhythms and strange angular noises that you don’t hear all the time.
Summary:
Although this E.P offers the listener something ‘different’ it is a view into the bands more subtle side. I still don’t think it totally beats ‘Escape the Artists of the Sixteenth Century’ as there are certainly more hooks and catchier rhythms to be had on that, however, what ‘Endless, Empty Spaces’ offers is clearly painted in the shadows is the bands more diverse, experimental side – so what that means is, it probably needs another few more listens to fully immerse the senses, so that being said, I was not drawn to this as quickly as the bands other E.P, although saying that I have listened to it three times now and like Roses – it is quickly growing on me!
A poignant, diverse and subtle listening experience!
8/10
Track List:
Blossom/Open 04:31
ChorusVerseChorusVerseChorusCalypso! 04:24
Cycles (What Happened When I Had My Genome Sequenced) 05:44
Martyrs/The Man Who Fell to Earth 05:35
Members:
Leigh-Angel - Sticks
Sam - Strings
Joe - Lines
Alex - Strings
Posted by Pagan Tordengrav Reviews
