| French For Rabbits — The Weight Of Melted Snow |
French For Rabbits — The Weight Of Melted Snow 
•★• V srdci Wellingtonu existuje mírný paradox: je tam kapela French For Rabbits. Během šesti let od svého založení se staly známými pro lahůdkovou a zvláštní intimitu své hudby, což neznamená, že hrají unplugged. Ve skutečnosti jsou kvůli této velmi cílené tichosti možná ještě více závislí, než většina skupin, na zesílení zvuku.
•★• Na albu Weight Of Melted Snow, druhého po Spirits, je to hlas Brooke Singer, který mě zaujal nejdřív, což je divné, protože její hlas může být nejměkčí a nejasertivnější, jaký jsem kdy slyšel. Delikátnost nahraného zvuku je taková, že i nejtišší hlasy mohou být smíchány přímo do popředí zahuštěných aranžmá, jako jsou tyhle, a tak vaši pozornost upoutají už pouhým dechem, zatímco svět zvuků se zvedá a zaostává za ním.
•★• V posledních několika letech vyrostli French For Rabbits z jednoduchého dua Brooke Singer a kytaristy Johna Fitzgeralda na současnou pětičlennou sestavu a tato širší paleta zvuků se hodí pro nejúčinnější melodické a emocionálně expanzivní skladby, které doposud frontmanka Singer představila. Sestavu doplnila zpěvačka Penelope Esplin, dále režisér, producent a vokalista z alba Spirits Ben Lemi (zde také bass) a bubeník Hikurangi Schaverien~Kaa z kapely Glass Vaults, která shodou okolností dala na trh své album The New Happy dva měsíce po FFR. Při bližším zkoumání však vyjde najevo, že Glass Vaults album nahráli ve Wellingtonu již v dubnu 2015. Takže žádné přebíhání z jedné nahrávací frekvence do druhé. Přesto, že Hikurangi hraje také v septetu Shake~’Em~On~Downers. A je to cítit, žádná ztráta koncentrace, ani rozdvojené srdce. Na čtvrté Birds Eye Point of View už je zcela jasně slyšet, že výběr sestavy proběhl pečlivě. To, že někdo hraje v několika kapelách současně, jsme zvyklí i na naší rovnoběžce, navíc to svědčí o kvalitě a žádanosti, o rozehranosti umělce ani nemluvě. Textově jsou FFR v objetí místní přírody s poněkud tmavějšími odrazy života v nejlepší písni (Your Halo = ...tehdy jsme měli vědět, že to nebude dobře). Celkově mnoho z jejich obrazů a metafor je čerpáno z přírodního světa (ptáci, květiny, mlha). Kdo má rád Tiny Ruins, Lauru Marling, Marissu Nadler, Mount Eerie, album v jeho srdci roztaje, ale neztratí se.
•★• French for Rabbits whispering dream~pop sad songs since 2012, with occasional outbursts. Dreamy indie folk duo from Wellington, New Zealand.
•★• Contemporaries: Tiny Ruins, Laura Marling, Marissa Nadler, Mount Eerie.
Formed: 2011 in Waikuku Beach ~ Wellington, NZ
Location: Wellington, New Zealand
Album release: March 10th 2017
Record Label: Home Alone Music/Southbound
Duration: 44:48
Tracks:
01. The Weight of Melted Snow 4:03
02. It Will Be Okay 3:56
03. Time Did Not 4:29
04. Birds Eye Point of View 5:57
05. One and Only 2:54
06. Your Halo 3:50
07. Dead Wood 4:57
08. Close My Eyes 3:54
09. Hollow Bodied Friends 4:02
10. Feathers and Dreams 3:40
11. Days Shift 3:06
French For Rabbits:
•★• John Fitzgerald, Brooke Singer, Hikurangi Schaverien~Kaa (Glass Vaults), Ben Lemi (Trinity Roots) and Penelope Esplin.
Review
Graham Reid | Mar 13, 2017 |
★ The 2014 debut album Spirits by this central duo of Brooke Singer and John Fitzgerald (here with multi~instrumentalist Ben Lemi of Trinity Roots, drummer Hikurangi Schaverien~Kaa and Penelope Esplin, and guests) was a sheer delight and we described it as “not so much shoegaze as folksy skygaze” for its dreamy folkadelic sound.
★ It is well worth finding even now, and probably even more so if this new one takes your fancy.
★ As it should.
★ They describe themselves as dream pop and that’s fair too: the opening vocals on Time Did Not (“I stood still but time did not”) and Close My Eyes rise on wafts of electronics and ethereal backing vocals as Singer’s voice dissolves into the ether.
★ There’s an embrace of wistful reverie in places here (the folk~pop of One and Only) and somewhat darker reflections on Your Halo, (“back then we should have known it wouldn’t well”). And as before many of their imagery and metaphors are drawn from the natural world (birds, flowers, fog).
★ The refinement of their lyrics read like spare poetry (Close My Eyes, the almost chorale quality of Days Shift) and relationship appear to evaporate slowly rather than in a hail of anger.
★ Feathers and Dreams is a moving vision of a bird caught in flames and its wings on fire. The point being that while we recoil in horror we should also honour the creature by not turning away but feeling its pain.
★ This depth of writing is matched by the arrangements which are supportively understated.
★ If the traditional pop end of the spectrum is dialled back in favour of parlour ballads and thoughtful folk that’s only to say that this is an album for quiet consideration as its many layers reveal themselves.
★ Very easy to be seduced by. ★ https://www.elsewhere.co.nz/ Review
From The Sampler, 7:30 pm on 7 March 2017
★ There’s a slight paradox at the heart of Wellington~based French For Rabbits. Over the five years since they formed they have become known for the delicacy and particular quietness of their music, which doesn’t mean they are unplugged. In fact it is due to that very quietness that they are perhaps even more dependent than most groups on amplification.
★ On The Weight Of Melted Snow, the group’s second album, it’s the voice of Brooke Singer that gets my attention first, which is odd because she might be the softest, least~assertive singer I’ve ever heard. The beauty of recorded sound is, of course, that that quietest of voices can be mixed right to the front of busy arrangements like these, so it commands your attention with the merest breath, while worlds of sound rise and fall behind it.
★ Over the last few years, French For Rabbits have grown from the simple duo of Brooke Singer and guitarist John Fitzgerald, to the current five~piece line~up, and that broader palette of sounds is put to good use in the most melodically and emotionally expansive songs Singer has presented so far.
★ There’s a true story at the heart of these songs, and it’s one that’s been sung many times before: the breakup of a relationship. Only this is a break~up album with a difference, in that the breakup Singer reflects on is that of her longstanding relationship with fellow French For Rabbits founder Fitzgerald. Displaying admirable maturity, they chose to continue writing and playing music together. Which might account for the lack of wrath, and abundance of level~headed reflection in these songs ~ though there’s no shortage of poignancy or poetry.
★ Songs featured: The Weight Of Melted Snow, Time Did Not, Dead Wood, One & Only, Birds Eye Point Of View, Days Shift. ★ http://www.radionz.co.nz/
About:
★ French for Rabbits hail from Waikuku Beach, a small settlement in New Zealand’s South Island. They play music that drifts on the edge of fragility, but expands out into washing layers of ethereal, nostalgic dream~pop. Vocalist and primary songwriter, Brooke Singer, expresses intimate narratives against the cast of the damp colonial cold; her voice delicately steeled against John Fitzgerald’s winsome guitar lines, and the eerie instrumentation of their band mates. It’s a weather~beaten dreamscape, nostalgic for warmth and hopefully lilting towards sunnier climes.
★ “Their music’s beating heart is often shrouded by atmospherics and mystique, and they seem to operate under the rightful assumption that a well~placed whisper can be as powerful as dramatically belting it out.” — Stereogum
Amplifier: http://www.amplifier.co.nz/release/110319/spirits.html
Bandcamp: https://frenchforrabbits.bandcamp.com/
Lefse: http://lefserecords.limitedrun.com/products/532805-french-for-rabbits-spirits-pre-order
Website: http://www.frenchforrabbits.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frenchforrabbits
Press: NZ: Bang the Drum
UK:
GERMANY:
FRANCE:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/frenchforrabbits
_____________________________________________________________
| French For Rabbits — The Weight Of Melted Snow |
•★• Na albu Weight Of Melted Snow, druhého po Spirits, je to hlas Brooke Singer, který mě zaujal nejdřív, což je divné, protože její hlas může být nejměkčí a nejasertivnější, jaký jsem kdy slyšel. Delikátnost nahraného zvuku je taková, že i nejtišší hlasy mohou být smíchány přímo do popředí zahuštěných aranžmá, jako jsou tyhle, a tak vaši pozornost upoutají už pouhým dechem, zatímco svět zvuků se zvedá a zaostává za ním.
•★• V posledních několika letech vyrostli French For Rabbits z jednoduchého dua Brooke Singer a kytaristy Johna Fitzgeralda na současnou pětičlennou sestavu a tato širší paleta zvuků se hodí pro nejúčinnější melodické a emocionálně expanzivní skladby, které doposud frontmanka Singer představila. Sestavu doplnila zpěvačka Penelope Esplin, dále režisér, producent a vokalista z alba Spirits Ben Lemi (zde také bass) a bubeník Hikurangi Schaverien~Kaa z kapely Glass Vaults, která shodou okolností dala na trh své album The New Happy dva měsíce po FFR. Při bližším zkoumání však vyjde najevo, že Glass Vaults album nahráli ve Wellingtonu již v dubnu 2015. Takže žádné přebíhání z jedné nahrávací frekvence do druhé. Přesto, že Hikurangi hraje také v septetu Shake~’Em~On~Downers. A je to cítit, žádná ztráta koncentrace, ani rozdvojené srdce. Na čtvrté Birds Eye Point of View už je zcela jasně slyšet, že výběr sestavy proběhl pečlivě. To, že někdo hraje v několika kapelách současně, jsme zvyklí i na naší rovnoběžce, navíc to svědčí o kvalitě a žádanosti, o rozehranosti umělce ani nemluvě. Textově jsou FFR v objetí místní přírody s poněkud tmavějšími odrazy života v nejlepší písni (Your Halo = ...tehdy jsme měli vědět, že to nebude dobře). Celkově mnoho z jejich obrazů a metafor je čerpáno z přírodního světa (ptáci, květiny, mlha). Kdo má rád Tiny Ruins, Lauru Marling, Marissu Nadler, Mount Eerie, album v jeho srdci roztaje, ale neztratí se.
•★• French for Rabbits whispering dream~pop sad songs since 2012, with occasional outbursts. Dreamy indie folk duo from Wellington, New Zealand.
•★• Contemporaries: Tiny Ruins, Laura Marling, Marissa Nadler, Mount Eerie.
Formed: 2011 in Waikuku Beach ~ Wellington, NZ
Location: Wellington, New Zealand
Album release: March 10th 2017
Record Label: Home Alone Music/Southbound
Duration: 44:48
Tracks:
01. The Weight of Melted Snow 4:03
02. It Will Be Okay 3:56
03. Time Did Not 4:29
04. Birds Eye Point of View 5:57
05. One and Only 2:54
06. Your Halo 3:50
07. Dead Wood 4:57
08. Close My Eyes 3:54
09. Hollow Bodied Friends 4:02
10. Feathers and Dreams 3:40
11. Days Shift 3:06
French For Rabbits:
•★• John Fitzgerald, Brooke Singer, Hikurangi Schaverien~Kaa (Glass Vaults), Ben Lemi (Trinity Roots) and Penelope Esplin.
Review
Graham Reid | Mar 13, 2017 |
★ The 2014 debut album Spirits by this central duo of Brooke Singer and John Fitzgerald (here with multi~instrumentalist Ben Lemi of Trinity Roots, drummer Hikurangi Schaverien~Kaa and Penelope Esplin, and guests) was a sheer delight and we described it as “not so much shoegaze as folksy skygaze” for its dreamy folkadelic sound.
★ It is well worth finding even now, and probably even more so if this new one takes your fancy.
★ As it should.
★ They describe themselves as dream pop and that’s fair too: the opening vocals on Time Did Not (“I stood still but time did not”) and Close My Eyes rise on wafts of electronics and ethereal backing vocals as Singer’s voice dissolves into the ether.
★ There’s an embrace of wistful reverie in places here (the folk~pop of One and Only) and somewhat darker reflections on Your Halo, (“back then we should have known it wouldn’t well”). And as before many of their imagery and metaphors are drawn from the natural world (birds, flowers, fog).
★ The refinement of their lyrics read like spare poetry (Close My Eyes, the almost chorale quality of Days Shift) and relationship appear to evaporate slowly rather than in a hail of anger.
★ Feathers and Dreams is a moving vision of a bird caught in flames and its wings on fire. The point being that while we recoil in horror we should also honour the creature by not turning away but feeling its pain.
★ This depth of writing is matched by the arrangements which are supportively understated.
★ If the traditional pop end of the spectrum is dialled back in favour of parlour ballads and thoughtful folk that’s only to say that this is an album for quiet consideration as its many layers reveal themselves.
★ Very easy to be seduced by. ★ https://www.elsewhere.co.nz/ Review
From The Sampler, 7:30 pm on 7 March 2017
★ There’s a slight paradox at the heart of Wellington~based French For Rabbits. Over the five years since they formed they have become known for the delicacy and particular quietness of their music, which doesn’t mean they are unplugged. In fact it is due to that very quietness that they are perhaps even more dependent than most groups on amplification.
★ On The Weight Of Melted Snow, the group’s second album, it’s the voice of Brooke Singer that gets my attention first, which is odd because she might be the softest, least~assertive singer I’ve ever heard. The beauty of recorded sound is, of course, that that quietest of voices can be mixed right to the front of busy arrangements like these, so it commands your attention with the merest breath, while worlds of sound rise and fall behind it.
★ Over the last few years, French For Rabbits have grown from the simple duo of Brooke Singer and guitarist John Fitzgerald, to the current five~piece line~up, and that broader palette of sounds is put to good use in the most melodically and emotionally expansive songs Singer has presented so far.
★ There’s a true story at the heart of these songs, and it’s one that’s been sung many times before: the breakup of a relationship. Only this is a break~up album with a difference, in that the breakup Singer reflects on is that of her longstanding relationship with fellow French For Rabbits founder Fitzgerald. Displaying admirable maturity, they chose to continue writing and playing music together. Which might account for the lack of wrath, and abundance of level~headed reflection in these songs ~ though there’s no shortage of poignancy or poetry.
★ Songs featured: The Weight Of Melted Snow, Time Did Not, Dead Wood, One & Only, Birds Eye Point Of View, Days Shift. ★ http://www.radionz.co.nz/
About:
★ French for Rabbits hail from Waikuku Beach, a small settlement in New Zealand’s South Island. They play music that drifts on the edge of fragility, but expands out into washing layers of ethereal, nostalgic dream~pop. Vocalist and primary songwriter, Brooke Singer, expresses intimate narratives against the cast of the damp colonial cold; her voice delicately steeled against John Fitzgerald’s winsome guitar lines, and the eerie instrumentation of their band mates. It’s a weather~beaten dreamscape, nostalgic for warmth and hopefully lilting towards sunnier climes.
★ “Their music’s beating heart is often shrouded by atmospherics and mystique, and they seem to operate under the rightful assumption that a well~placed whisper can be as powerful as dramatically belting it out.” — Stereogum
Amplifier: http://www.amplifier.co.nz/release/110319/spirits.html
Bandcamp: https://frenchforrabbits.bandcamp.com/
Lefse: http://lefserecords.limitedrun.com/products/532805-french-for-rabbits-spirits-pre-order
Website: http://www.frenchforrabbits.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frenchforrabbits
Press: NZ: Bang the Drum
UK:
GERMANY:
FRANCE:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/frenchforrabbits
_____________________________________________________________