Taking a page out of Mac Demarco’s book, Loving crafts a gentle, lo-fi indie rock project in their self titled debut. The sunset vibe of many of the cuts here provide for an incredibly relaxing and enjoyable listen.
Many slow, stumbling guitar passages are found on Loving, including on the record’s opener “Sweet Fruit.” With the folk tone of the vocals and part of the production on this track, it has me questioning if perhaps I treated folk too harshly when I tried giving it a listen not too long ago. This track segues into the slightly frightening opening vocals of “Forgot Again,” which soon give way to dreamy production and intonation. Though the lyrics here are likely describing the feeling of being at a loss for words as a result of being in the presence of someone very beautiful, I wonder if the writers were simply inspired by the phrase “I forgot what I was going to say.” Although the vocals of “The Not Real Lake” are trying on my ears from the get go, with a dull oral delivery and a vocal filter that even further magnifies this lackluster quality, the production is quite beautiful. Again, this one would bode well when played outside in the evening (perhaps even at a lake?) while the sun goes down. “A Long Slow Little Wave / Citizen, An Activity” offers no lyrics, but once again shines on the production front. The first song that stuck out to me on the project, the simple but dreamlike chords make for one of the better instrumental performances throughout. Conversely, we see one of the better vocal performances on the next cut “She Refused to Say.” Engaging imagery of shadows dancing and tin can telephones contribute to a very poetic lyrical set, which seem like a direct translation from the music itself. My favorite cut here, “Bowlly Goes Dancing Drunk into the Future” was my introduction to Loving. The boyish tonal delivery taken with a few of the lyrics feel especially confidential, with the request of the listener to “talk freely” in a very shy and self-conceited manner. The project sadly saves the worst for last, with the awkward “Where Everybody Goes” not having much going for it at all. Thankfully, the track seems to be over before I know it most of the time. Additional problems arise on this project when trying to distinguish what it is about each track that makes them great individually. Overall, the record is solid - however, this doesn’t entirely excuse Loving from using really quite similar sounds over and over on the record. The tracks are enjoyable, but what good does it do to repeatedly create the same songs? I do like this record. The personal vocals paired with the equally warm production makes for a great listen (almost) all the way through, and has me excited to listen to more of the group’s music. I just hope that, going forward in my listening experience of other music by Loving as well as with the group’s music going forward, that the songs are more distinguishable from one another. Tracks to listen to are “Bowlly Goes Dancing Drunk into the Future” and “She Refused to Say."
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AuthorEnrique Cardenas III Archives
November 2021
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