Album Review
Bravestation – Giants and Dreamers
Giants and Dreamers is the first full length recording from Toronto’s Bravestation. This is an interesting collection of nine tracks that can perhaps best be described as gentle and experimental electronic pop. The album has been over a year in the making, with the quartet working in isolation for large parts of the songwriting process before coming together to record the final product.
The album is opened by its second single Tides Of The Summit, a track that typifies much of the album with its atmospheric electronic sound over which rhythmic percussion builds. Devin Wilson’s vocals are smooth and in a high pitch, the lyrics having a fantasy edge as Andrew Heppner ‘s keyboard effects create a swirling backdrop.
Western Thrills has a faster tempo, Wilson’s bass and the guitar of his brother Derek working well together. The drum rhythms from Jeremy Rossetti are again intricate, the tribal feel he creates being a feature of the band’s music.
Lead single Signs Of The Civilised has a more strident sound and harsher vocals, but the drums and keyboards again create an ambient backing that allows space for the vocals. There is an eighties feel to this track, although there is enough to avoid it seeming dated
After a strong opening, the album offers up more of the same approach. There are slight variations in the tracks, but there is a similarity that disappoints a little, as this is clearly a band with the talent to expand its horizons a little further.
Fluorescent Scenes is more upbeat, while Amaranthine uses some interesting electronic vocal effects at the start, along with a pulsing electronic beat that runs throughout the track. Lines In The Sand features stronger vocals in a song that is closer in places to mainstream pop that most. And Marble Sky adds electronic percussion to the mix, giving an additional interest to the song.
The penultimate track Kaleidoscope has a great introduction as the electronic effects build and the vocals come in over a strong bass line as Devin Wilson shows an impressive range to his voice. And the closing Future Love brings things to a nice conclusion, another where the variation in the sound effects somehow complements the vocals nicely. It’s an intricate yet rhythmic and ultimately pleasing slower track.
Overall this is a good rather than a great debut album. Bravestation marry some well crafted pop lyrics with a vast range of electronic backings and there is enough here to suggest that they have created a niche for themselves. Their sound is fuller than many electronic acts achieve and the lovely percussion effects definitely stand out as something very different. I’ll be watching with interest to see where Bravestation go next.