Spectreview: somesurprises: somesurprises

-DARK ORANGE-

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“I close my eyes
I close my eyes”

Decades ago, it would have been crazy to assume that artists would take reverb for granted like we do nowadays. Until the complete takeover of digital production, you needed to relocate entirely for your reverb, and often that relocation built into the story of the album itself: recall U2’s boarding at Slane Castle, or Thom Yorke’s head rested against the steps of Jane Seymour’s stone staircase, or Neon Bible’s misplaced confidence in the warm darkness of the cathedral, all the way up to Jim James’ iconic voice bouncing against the wall of his improvised garage studio. Then indie bands like Deerhunter and DIIV recontextualised reverb as the paint rather than the paintbrush, and this tied in neatly to the rise of the “bedroom” genres, where technical skill matters less than pure feel. It’s neither evolutive nor recessive, just a greater shift in how people experience music today.

Natasha El-Sergany is one artist that puts her faith in the transportive effects of reverb, but it’s obvious from her past works that there’s raw talent buried under her sonic ramparts. Her voice, smoky and ethereal in ways only Chan Marshall could rival, spreads like a guardian spirit over her desert canyons and twinkling city buildings; it’s at once a lifeforce and a ghostly remnant. Her spindly, Lockett Pundt guitar provides a wireframe that other instruments build around, constructing vistas that pierce the heart as effectively as they pierce the eardrums. Until their new self-titled LP, these locales were couched at least partially in the safety of lo-fi, and in the security of solitary creation. somesurprises ups the definition and posits the act as a full rock band, and as supported by the auspicious blooming on the cover-art, this effortful switch-up yields great results. These songs behave in ways novel to the act’s output: the dynamic rollercoaster of “High Rise” and pulse-quickening propulsion of breathtakingly epic closer “Cherry Sunshine” carry a flow that could only be possible with live coordination, while “Empty Threat” and “Country Sun” sway in a comparatively laid-back waltz. Where the band drops out for El-Sergany’s classic squalls, like on opener “Sometimes,” that gleaming production brings out new colors and shapes, adding a more visceral cinematic quality to her songs. It’s all notably augmented: from the tender chimes of “Airport” to the thunderous reckoning of “Late July,” there are moments aplenty where somesurprises consistently one-up what they’ve done before. Clearly adding more people to the equation was the right decision, and it’s a true pleasure to see El-Sergany’s project evolve into a vessel that not only feels fully realized but also holds more potential than ever.

Recommended for sitting in heat.