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[one_half last=”yes”]SUBMOTION ORCHESTRA
Alium
Release-Date: 24.11.2014
Label: Counter Records
Tracklist:
01. Awakening
02. Time Will Wait
03. City Lights
04. Victim of Order
05. Chrome Units
06. Rust
07. Life After
08. The Hounds
09. Trust / Lust
10. Swan Song
11. Bring Back the Wolf
12. Worries
NBHAP Rating: 3,8/5
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A pleasant discovery
Regular festival attendants might remember that scenario. The night is not that young anymore and so is your body as well. The headliners already finished a while, it is a dark night and at some tent there’s still a band playing although the main stages already turned out the light. It’s a weird but highly addictive live electronic band you’ve never heard of. But their groove and diversity instinctively catch your attention. Looks like your night won’t stop at this point. Leeds-based seven-piece SUBMOTION ORCHESTRA is exactly such a band and their third album Alium wants to take them to the bigger stages.
Beats, basslines and brass section
Following two already lovely longplayers in 2011 and 2012, Alium mixes the familiar SUBMOTION ORCHESTRA formula with a more focussed approach. The seven-piece mixes grooving break-beats and dirty basslines with a few jazz influences. Awakening and the single Time Will Wait already start the longplayer with an example of that mixture. On top of it, singer Ruby Wood delivers a tender vocal performance, marking the true highlight in the musical microcosm of the band.
After the rave
Don’t let the quite grooving start of Alium fool you. The new SUBMOTION ORCHESTRA album is far more relaxed and laid-back than you would expect. The mighty Victim of Order almost feels like a left-over from 90s trip-hop duo LAMB. Songs like Rust and Life After take us deeper in the hypnotic mix of dreamy electronics and downtempo-like beats. Ruby Wood’s sweet voice guides us through the delicate Swan Song right to the string-drunken final song Worries. The songs of Alium definitely work best at night, even on a festival. After all the noise of the big stages you’ll most likely find the time to breathe and discover this beauty of a band.
From downbeat to jazz – SUBMOTION ORCHESTRA’s third album ‘Alium’ delivers a diversified mixture of multiple genres and ideas.
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