This is Chicago based Information Superhighway's second CD which follows 2006’s ‘First Morning’. The band falls into the alt-rock genre, encompassing elements of jazz, ambient pop and prog rock. The band comprises Leslie Beukelman vocals, effects and loops. Rob Clearfield keyboards, guitars, accordion and singing bowl. Patrick Mulcahy on electric and acoustic bass, and John Smillie on drums and cymbals.
The opening track, ‘Almost Morning’ is a jazzy alt-rock tune with a guitar hookline not dissimilar to that of The Strokes. Leslie Bukelman’s vocals are high in the mix and both clear and distinct. The song details the moment two lovers spend together before going their separate ways: - “Go ahead, save the world, I’ll be alright/ You don’t need to come back, I’ll be alright.
I grew up just in time, or something like that/If you need me I’ll be 3000 miles away.”
With some interesting rhythm breaks and tempo changes, the track boasts a catchy chorus: - “In darkness waiting, It’s alright, we’re just…It’s almost morning”.
‘Real Things’ lures the listener into a false sense of security with its slow, almost inaudible start, a keyboard based ballad, before morphing into an ambient alt-rock track. Bukelman’s vocals are ethereal and quite beautiful. Again, the lyrics are concerned with personal relationships: - “You’re so hopeless, you’re still fighting/ I’m done fighting, I’m done helping,
But you’re still perfect”.
‘Soft and Not Knowing’ is the single release from the album, and is the stand out track. With a folk tinged lazy, catchy groove which creeps up on you, this is the high point of the album. Once again, the lyrics are centred around the complexities of relationships: - “Take me to the waterfall again/I can hold on to your hair with my eyes/ And if this is all this can ever be,
It’s alright; it’s all just a dream anyway”.
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‘This is Beginning’ represents a drop in quality, being largely instrumental, and starting with ambient keyboards, I found myself nipping off to the kitchen to make a cup of tea when this one was on, and returning to find I had not missed much. The lyrics here are extremely sparse, an almost Zen like contemplation of death: - “This is not the ending, This is not the ending, This is beginning”.
Finally, the album closes with ’Your Voice – Part II’ which is a guitar strum, bolstered with piano and featuring some good slide work which sounds quite countrified at the end. Once again the lyrics are very introspective: -“Sitting with you, I find relief/ Play me a song, your voice fills the room with light,
I’m alright”.
Overall, this is quite a decent album, with both high points and low points. The high points for me were Bukelman’s vocals, which were spot on, and instrumentation that is difficult to fault.
The low points were, the album has five tracks, four of which are over six minutes long, and two tracks which are eleven and a half minutes long each. This meant I found it hard not to switch off, and concurrently found myself doing other things while this played in the background. If the songs had been cut right down in length, this could have made a great E.P. As it is, they're left with an ok album.
Information Superhighway on Myspace
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