REVIEW: Listener – “TIme Is a Machine” (2013)
Listener
Time Is a Machine
Unsigned
While the “talk music” genre isn’t a very widely known or appreciated thing, if you are one who knows anything about it than you most likely know, or should know, about the band Listener, and how rare it is to find that they’ve put out new recorded material. Following up their more well-known album “Wooden Heart” is this new piece of art titled simply “Time Is a Machine.” While the title and the artwork of this album are interesting enough, the songs themselves take on lives of their own to breathe more strength and emotion into the album – as they should of course, and as to be expected by Listener.
The album opens up with the song “Eyes to the Ground for Change,” and immediately you can hear something different. Their previous album had a more ambient and orchestral sound and feeling to it, where this track and the one following it have more of a rock sound, something not the most common when listening to this or many other talk music bands or groups. This is a nice change of pace and doesn’t at all take away from the album itself – and it isn’t simply that sound either. This album is much more diverse than their other releases, as the two before each took a certain sound and followed it, whereas this album changes sounds with each song. One song could be rock, the next ambient, and the proceeding could even have a post-rock sound to it. Not only is their sound evolving, though, as is the music itself as a whole. The songs aren’t just filled to the brim with talking, they give much more time to breath than past songs hadn’t. Don’t get me wrong, though, other songs did have that release – but not a lot did. These, however, let the music itself tell a story and reveal emotion and thought with the vocals, rather than just playing as a background to the words. However, this doesn’t take away at all from the lyrics – the lyrics are as powerful and meaningful as ever, not missing a single step along the way. This is an album that will feed into your heart and soul and just, truly, make you feel – with every piece of its being.
Facebook / Twitter / iTunes