Dead Gaze, a 12track self titled compilation of R Cole Furlow’s back catalogue is to be released on FatCat sister label Palmist as a vinyl and digital download on the 25th march. We begin the Dead Gaze venture by listening to ‘Remember What Brought Us Here’, you immediately realise that Dead Gaze likes to experiment with electronics and a mass amount of effects! But there’s a hook there somewhere under that fuzz! Slowly everything merges into one but you can still work out the riff while the overly compressed vocals can still be outlined in the mix. Overall though, it’s pretty hard to understand the track as a whole but somehow it still manages to be catchy.
‘You’ll Carry On Real Nice’ shows us Dead Gaze’s punk side, with power chords and a driving rhythm but there’s little power behind the drums as the heavy use of effects are certainly still there! It does however suit the track if you’re into listening to max overdrive! Personally, it’s too much, I want to hear a heavy kick drum rather than just tinny cymbals; it’s not a laidback track after all. ‘This Big World’ carries on the driving theme, reminding me of Stereophonics, half because of the vocal effects and half because of the melody and chord progression.
‘Future Loves and Sing Abouts’, when the synth line came in with this track I immediately became more animated about this song than the others before it, it’s trippy and I could see it on a scene from the old series of Skins. There’s nothing particularly catchy but it’s 2 and a half minutes of hypnotic ambience, which is what drew me in.
‘Glory Days For Sure’ with a bass line that sounds like it came straight from an Amy Winehouse track behind the rest of the instrumentation that appears to be influenced by 80s rock. The vocal melody sounds slightly dated and yet stands out for the right reasons. This is a track that I could see holding it’s own in the commercial market, the use of synths and effects are not overpowering, it’s a good balance.
Nearing the end of the album I came to ‘I Found the Ending’ that reminded me of chiptune due to the synth line hook that features every now and again, standing out more than the vocals. ‘A Simple Man’ follows and there’s that hypnotic feel again! I get the impression that being under the influence of something while listening to some of these tracks would seriously blow your mind!
‘Fishing With Robert’ is the penultimate track on this compilation and the vocal effects are fitting with the title of the track, it sounds like we’re taken on a journey under the sea to fish with Robert!
The vocals never really seem to be at the forefront and the lyrics I could barely work out throughout this compilation, Dead Gaze either wants you to appreciate all the instrumentation or simply likes to drown them out, either way it’s different, and different is always refreshing! Once I reached the last track I realised the music doesn’t stay in your head for long, it’s more ambient background composition rather than ‘I’m in your face, listen to this chord change and compelling vocal melody!’ Which is good really, the compilation can fit more than one purpose. I do wonder though whether Dead Gaze feels the need to use such an extensive amount of effects so that his music gets heard. There are some tracks in this compilation that don’t necessarily need the effects process that Dead Gaze has put them through. However, if it worked for Matt Bellamy then theoretically it can work for other musicians and electronic enthusiasts too!
http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/track=4065384657/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/
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