What we have here is a clever, complex, spiritual album, built around simple yet deeply effective themes. Though not an electronic album, it does contain gentle electronic treatments, but all in all, the flow, vibe and textures, are quite natural.
[Release page] The post-rock kingdom has never been so flooded as it is today—new bands constantly coming in, in lot of the cases without anything new to offer, while some of the veterans just keep recycling themselves. The more the kingdom gets crowded, the harder it gets for bands to sound original and fresh. That said, post-rock still has a lot to offer, to newcomers as well as to old-timers, but nowadays old-timers will have to dig a bit deeper or look more carefully at the brims in order to find new exciting gems. One of these exciting gems that have recently landed in the flooded territories of the kingdom, is the self-titled debut album by The Pattern Theory—released on Valeot Records last year.
The Pattern Theory’s take on post-rock is refreshing, dynamic and uplifting, with subtle tendencies towards jazz aesthetics. The album contains picturesque, romantic night-time music that is never too loud, but also never too mellow, yet always emotionally and atmospherically charged. This rich, instrumental and multidimensional stream of sound was created by three talented guys: Carl Schilde, Lukas Creswell-Rost & James Yates. These guys sound fantastic together, not only on the record, but live as well. They are definitely not just a studio band. What we have here is not the common, formulated ebb and flow type of post-rock—where mellow sections slowly develop into bombastic peaks—nor is it some sort of post-rock electronica fusion. What we have here is a clever, complex, spiritual album, built around simple yet deeply effective themes. Though not an electronic album, it does contain gentle electronic treatments, but all in all, the flow, vibe and textures, are quite natural. These guys don’t feel they need to impress anyone with empty technique displays—this leaves room for development that nurtures interest and tension.
An excellent production can intensify the beauty of good compositions, and that is exactly the case here. All the compositions are warm, accurate and well balanced. None of the layers overshadows another, it’s all very harmonic. As it says on the sleeve notes of the lovely digipak, the album was recorded nocturnally, so yes, it does work very well at night with a good pair of headphones on, but can definitely fit other periods of the day as well. The Pattern Theory do not reinvent the genre, but like several other bands they certainly refresh it in an enticing individual way. In your local record store this album might be in the post-rock section, but classifying it as post-rock only would be injustice, as scents of ambient-gaze, 70s smooth rock and more—are all there somewhere in the mix, gently blended in. This is simply beautiful music to warm your heart with. One of the very best of 2011.
The Pattern Theory is available on Valeot. [Release page]
