Gesserit | Silence (single)
Family Average: 4/7
SILENCE! Nothing quite gets my heart pounding like when some dramatic wizard yells that in some great hall. Preferably in some made for television medieval movie. Is that just me? Most likely yes, but the rest of you still might find a lot to love in this hard driving indie-rock tune. The reverb is bouncing, and the drums are thumping in this latest offering from Brooklyn’s very own Gesserit! For those of you who do not remember we also did an interview with the talented artist which you can check out here.
Look below and see what the family had to say.
With solid snare, swelling guitar and steady bass, Gesserit tackles that electronic, post-rock sound that is literally reverberating throughout Brooklyn at the moment. That being said, she does so beautifully. Her vocals have a lot of depth, like a more echo-y Jenny Lewis. The echo matches her heavy echo pedal, creating an impressionistic momentum that builds into a crescendo of sound.
It’s really nicely done with a lovely atmospheric quality that I will always appreciate and happily listen to. The heavy reverb usage makes it difficult to suss the lyrics and exact intention/meaning, but if Gesserit is trading in vibes/emotion/mood, then she’s done an excellent job creating an airy listen that goes down easy.
4/7
Navigating the river amongst a foggy purple forest, haunting echoes behind every twist and turn, that is where this song puts you for a moment. It all feels rather spacey, mystical, and groovy. Low volumed vocals that build but never fill over the top of the cup. Nothing about this track actually is at all IN YOUR FACE. Even the lyrics: “Piles of trash all around your room//prove me you aren’t told what to do//you’re living for yourself, well you’re not the only one…” They paint a picture that you then infer the message from.
Get my oars, I’m ready to go rowboat down the river for a second listen!
4/7
So this song put me in mind of Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit”, but it had much of the pyschedelic, unsettling aspect removed and replaced with a Florence and the Machine somewhat folksy indie rock sound. Mix that with some 80s ethereal, surrealist rock and you’ve got a rough idea of this song. The singer has a great voice, and the echo distortion doesn’t inhibit but accentuate it. Beneath the calm guitar strums and the soft reverb, there’s an underlying cynicism that’s suggested via the usage of minor key and the mild contempt conveyed by the lyrics.
It’s got enough substance to hold its own, but is also incorporeal enough to work as some chill background music. It’s a song you could maybe expect to hear at night at a hipster apartment party, one where the lightbulbs are tinted a soft red and maybe there’s some white fairy lights strewn about.
4/7
First of all I would like to point out the clear disconnect between the title of the song, and the song’s contents. There were noises. That is NOT SILENCE. Okay, jokes aside I was digging this track. At three minutes, the song contorts into some lovely shapes. Starting with a driving steady beat, it slowly unravels into a jam that I imagine would be a hoot to see live. All of a sudden it would get really loud, and you would turn to the person next to you and say. “Oh wow I like that.”, and then they would say “What?”. Then you realize that communication will have to continue after the song has ended, so you bliss out and enjoy the scene.
There is a good amount of space in the track. When I say this I am referring to the reverb. It is a sound that I hear often, but I still like it every time I hear it. Keeping with the trend the lyrics are vague and further muddied by the before mentioned reverberation. With this one single the band has flexed their talent. I look forward to what they do further on down the road with it.
4/7