OFFICIAL: http://www.astronomiquemusic.com
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/Astronomiques
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/astronomiques/
BANDCAMP: https://astronomique.bandcamp.com
Written by Jason Hillenburg, posted
by blog admin
Pop, synth pop, whatever label you
want to assign to Astronomique, it still rates as some of the most across the
board compelling music released on the indie scene today. Their artistic vision
slants towards the substantive end of the creative spectrum driven by the creative
partnership of lead singer Logan Andra Fongemie and guitarist/vocalist Sean
Hogan coupling a psychedelic flavor with popular culture imagery and a penchant
for artsy, top shelf synth pop from the 1980’s. The music for Sharp Divide, the
band’s longest collection yet, is a physical release whose music involves
listeners from the first, but the songwriting engages listeners intellectually
as well and appeals to the imagination in satisfyingly individualistic ways.
The band’s influences are apparent, but they slip free of imitation or pastiche
with an approach and style recognizable, but all their own.
The intense bass pulse thudding in
the heart of “Forefathers”, the album’s opener, tethers the song’s foundation
to earth and allows Astronomique’s synthesizer lines flash like quicksilver
over the fat backbeat. There’s some tasty dynamic shifts recurring throughout
the song and atmospheric interplay between Fongemie’s keyboard playing and
guitarist Sean Hogan’s echo laden guitar near the song’s conclusion is worth
hearing the song for alone. “Side of Your Mind” has a more overt pop attack
than the opener and the sprightly rhythm shifts listener’s attention away from
the opener’s pace. There are some imaginative twists scattered throughout the
arrangement elevating this above your standard synth pop fare and Fongemie’s
vocal performance, treated by some light post production effects, comes across
every bit as command as “Forefathers”, albeit manifested in a very different
way.
The digitized beginning to “Losing
Our Control” establishes the initial outlines of a simmering groove soon filled
out by another potent rhythm section performance from bassist Preston Saari and
drummer Mitch Billings. Sean Hogan’s taut, nervy guitar playing drops some
funky, often shimmering fills throughout the track and the band contributes
some tasteful backing vocals to enhance another fine Fongemie performance. The
title song’s moody march has an almost spectral quality thanks to a ghostly
Fongemie vocal and more spartan but effective Hogan guitar. Guitar players
often possess a tendency to flash their skills in brief displays of pride,
sometimes longer than brief, but Hogan’s playing throughout Sharp Divide as an
orchestral bent – he’s an important part of the tapestry, but ultimately a key
thread in a larger mosaic.
Fongemie’s synth once again opens a
song with the track “Smoke” and the rhythm section distinguishes themselves
again with a chest rattling performance and the album’s overall production
wisely highlights this strength from the first. “Smoke” has some of Sharp
Divide’s strongest melodic ideas and fine lyrical content. There’s more of a
hard charging quality at the heart of “Bleed Me” than we hear with a lot of the
material on Sharp Divide, but the band retains their capacity for nuance
despite the music’s insistent push. The nice gallop in the rhythm section’s
performance, never pronounced, gives the song an added sense of urgency. The
cheerfully entitled “Heading Nowhere” has a much more deliberate pace and a
strong focus on guitars and synthesizers instead of the rhythm section. It has
some of the album’s best atmospheric touches, particularly thanks to Hogan’s
six string contributions, and it is a satisfying final curtain for Astronomique’s
Sharp Divide. This is synth pop with an artistic agenda and they accomplish
everything they set out to do with sophistication, sincerity, and polish.
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