Yeyey
– The Vision (Hush Records)
LP
/ DL
Out
Now
8
/ 10
Alternative pop artist releases his new album.
What is ‘alternative pop’? By definition ‘pop music’ is ‘popular’ and another
one of those genre’s, like Indie, that has developed into something after being
something completely different. Yeyey for the uninitiated, IS alternative pop
and sadly probably won’t be popular.
Why? Well, it’s intelligent pop not the throw-away crap that’s the order
of the day. It’s lovely, well-structured
pop which you should like.
Yeyey is effectively Ben Shepard (not to be
confused with British breakfast host Ben Shephard) and a host of guest
musicians and vocalists, on The Vision which include members of M83 and Mercury
Rev, and the introduction of violinist Sarah Koenig-Plonskier to provide some
gorgeous classical overdubs.
According to the PR blurb, The Vision is ‘woven
together like a melodic tapestry’ (who writes this stuff?), and somehow the words
ring true. Tracks layer pop simplicity
over pop simplicity to create interesting yet not over complex pieces of highly
likable music.
Opener, Wild Things for instance has echoes of
a-ha with the vocal at times not dissimilar to those of Morten Harket himself. Now the Norwegian trio may not be your cup of
tea, but their impact on the British charts in the 80s can’t be disputed and
their resurgence to the live circuit in recent years shows their
popularity. Sounding like them maybe
isn’t a bad thing.
But, The Vision isn’t about sounding like other
people. It forges a track through some
delightful musical pieces which are catchy an infective and over the nine
tracks there really isn’t a dud one here.
Yeyey can slow things down to some affectionate and crisp near ballad
type material too. Tiptoe for instance (which features Koenig-Plonskier) glides
by with a beautiful wisp and contains some stunning shimmering sounds.
Shepard is no stranger to music with his previous
band Uzi & Ari giving way to collaborations as vocalist and guitarist to
the brilliant Arms And Sleepers, and his experience has obviously led to the
fine tracks that he now adds to his CV.
Am I The Devil contains a killer dance bassline
with some nice slabs of dark synth and Lovely Lonely is, well, lovely. The best multi-layering of sounds is saved
for the title track which has sound over sound added and still manages to sound
entirely musical without disappearing into a cavalcade of mess.
Album closer Ghost Suit is another
neo-classical affair which ends the album on a delightful note.
Links
Hush Records
Yeyey on Soundcloud
Yeyey on Twitter
Yeyey on Facebook
Arms & Sleepers album review
Published on Louder Than War 5/02/16 - here
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