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ALBUM REVIEW: "Afterglow" by Ásgeir

   Afterglow sounds a lot like the musical equivalent of a warm spot of sun on an otherwise cool winters day. It's cold and icy but has an undeniable feeling of comfort, like a hot chocolate in the cold. This is down to the lush guitars, piano and sometimes trippy synths that make up the musical landscape of Afterglow, providing a nice canvas for Icelandic Ásgeir Trausti's voice to paint on. His voice is comparable to that of Sigur Rós singer and fellow Icelandian (Icelandman... Icelandish... who knows) Jónsi's falsetto, but where Sigur Rós craft huge but subtle compositions that shake rooms and murmur quietly, often in the same song, Ásgeir never quite manages to reach that level of transcendence Sigur Rós have poked at on a few of their records. For me it's down to a lack of dynamics; the entire record seems to roll along at the same pace without ebbing or flowing much and never feels like it's going anywhere in particular. On another day this might not have been a problem for me; plenty of records decide to stay down in a particular mood for their entirety and are fantastic for it, but Afterglow just seemed to want to reach a little further, be a little more expansive, but never quite got there. There were definitely hints at the floor opening out from underneath some of the songs, which were completely exhilarating, but I just felt a little lacking by the end, like the final trick hadn't been revealed. That being said there are heaps of great songs on Afterglow that completely capture what he's going for, and it's beautiful in a brittle, fragile way, almost like each song might shatter if you handle them without enough care. I just wanted a little more development to make the 45 minutes have some more ups and downs, instead of staying stationary in the same place the whole time (beautiful though that place is). Ásgeir has tapped into something really good and has crafted some amazingly delicate compositions out of it, but as a collection of songs Afterglow lacks the ebb and flow I wanted it to have.

   Favourite Songs: Unbound, Stardust, and I Know You Know

    Least Favourite Song: Dreaming

    Rating: B-
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