Calliope Music Review of the Week
Cindy Lee - Diamond Jubilee
1950s and 60s Lo-fi Soundscapes Usher a Suffocating Psychedelia
Glitzy guitar, dusty basslines, rattling drums, and forlorn strings chug in Bluesy rhythms, soaked in reverb and washed in a bath of spaced out production. Light tones in the vocals and guitar lead melodies reminiscent of the New York Brill Building scene in the late 50s and early 60s. This old timey feel is complemented by fuzzy bass tones, raw manufacturing, and a slowly building industrialism throughout. Diamond Jubilee is a truly unique atmosphere, allowing an abrasive fidelity to embrace antiquated hypnagogia and an isolating echo chamber of Blues.
Where its sonic environment is the biggest impression the record makes, it also excels in sultry Pop movements and spellbinding Psychedelic progressions. While the second half of the album is preferred with its deep psychoactive resonations, the first half offers tongue-gripping melodies and satisfying solutions to simple Pop progressions. Add on the elegantly explored themes of seclusion, self-transformation, and painful passion, and one has the recipe for a concept that is bound to stick.
The main issue the record inherits is through its pacing and runtime. The album just goes...and goes. Many of the tracks blend together, not because their concepts align chronologically, but because the record leaves no time or transitioning between similar songs. This sometimes works well as certain movements flow seamlessly into various decorated paths, but often this creates a nonchalance to the project that slows its hefty runtime down even further. A few cuts do exactly the opposite, abruptly ending with no formal finish or introduction to the succeeding progression. Even the final track ends unfinished, leaving a feeling of abandonment and dissatisfaction.
Despite lacking in cohesion, the record's environment is consistent throughout. Vibrating testimonies of love and a classic imagery blend immaculately with frizzy production, generating a world lost in time, and lost within itself; A long and uncut trip to the daring limits of Pop music.
Best Tracks: All I Want Is You -- Demon Bitch -- Stone Faces -- Dracula -- Lockstepp -- Government Cheque -- If You Hear Me Crying -- Whats It Going To Take -- 24/7 Heaven
7.5/10
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