The Minnesota music award winner is backed by a 5-piece band and continues his effervescent take on the melancholy with this irresistible masterclass in minor chord melodic beauty. The line up of Peter Sieve - electric guitar/vocals, Justin Blair - bass/vocals, Luke Anderson - drums/percussion Joey Kantor – keys, Joanna James - violins/voice and Denise Guelker - violins/percussion
Pop sensibilities are an absolute priority for this champion of lost and lonely causes, and each heartfelt dip of this sun-baked trance winds seamlessly towards the sonic horizon with a hazy grip on a deceptively firm reality.
In short, it’s introspection for the conosieur – a mind’s eye soundtrack that’s simply beautiful to hear! Cascading piano and brass fanfares, smouldering and slightly atonal signal the development of a charm-filled sound that’s both melodic and alive to the senses.
Beginning with the alt-country title track, the delicacy is as mouthwatering as the metaphors that combine to paint such a vivid picture of the new day.
‘There’s a funny little thing called eloquence’ Koza yearns as his vocals are laid wide open to fate, unfurling like sails across the vast landscape, before a lilt pulls you breathlessly back to earth.
The drum-machine flutter and synth strings glow from within the slow-burning core of tracks like the blurry ‘Shallow Seas’, and the drifting bliss of ‘Adjust’ carries the melancholy so well that it’s hard not to fall in love.
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Reworked, the same ingredients are the basis of a lively and hook-laden pop sound, and thus the huge appeal of ‘Straight To Video’ and ‘Belmont Stakes’ is instant and darn-near absolute.
‘The Dark, Delirious Morning is one hell of a stare into the distance, but also a thorough examination of the arguably more desolate, and equally far-away spaces that exist ‘through’ the bathroom walls. Fuelled by lonely heartache, this is pure space-out territory that’s gorgeously mapped out and strangely familiar.
The twelve-string multi-layered acoustic holds each subconsciously delivered instalment upright with the help of a music-hall tinkling of the ivories here and there as at times, the record dances in the spaces where thoughts become words.
Sparkling and wonderfully understated, this is a series of odes to the absent-minded that drip with gloriously phrased apathy. As difficult ‘third’ albums go, Koza has fashioned a gem that surpasses his previous ultra high standards. Through the huge silences of this out-and-out classic the voices scream that this is one record that demands to be heard. Stunning.
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