The Defog could make a bad record. But it will still be worth, if nothing else, a solid praise for its uniqueness, for this band from Philadelphia sounds like no one else. The group\u2019s style of blending quirky keyboard sounds \u2013 part The Doors, part The Charlatans UK, and part Stereolab \u2013 with elegantly arranged and sincerely performed folk music is like no one else\u2019s. Add to it the very distinctive vocals of the very fervid lead vocalist Charles Stieg, and the band\u2019s signature style is incomparable to anyone else.<\/p>\n
For The Shadow Companion<\/i>, the band charts the same course as their brilliant 2006 release Ebb And Flow<\/i>. The Shadow Companion<\/i> is true to The Defog\u2019s nature in full form, with its meticulously clean sound, which is just what is required to portray the band\u2019s rich and elaborate sound in its full glory.<\/p>\n
The Shadow Companion<\/i>, however, is a darker effort by the band. But \u201cdark\u201d to The Defog doesn\u2019t apply the same way as it might apply to any other band; it is strictly relative. Apart from the divinely charming \u201cClouds On Fire\u201d and the follow up \u201cKaleidoscopes,\u201d none of the other tracks on The Shadow Companion <\/i>have the innocently charming sound, which has been an integral part of the facet of the band\u2019s personality that is rooted in folk music. As a result, this album isn\u2019t as deeply rooted in acoustic music. Electronics and all sorts of keyboard sounds make up the bulk of the disc\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n
The \u201cdark and disturbed\u201d mood in The Defog\u2019s vocabulary translates to the melancholic, of which there is plenty on The Shadow Companion<\/i>. The almost eight minute long \u201cPanic Attack\u201d with a din of city sounds polluting the music, which constantly goes through tempo changes is a song where the melancholia actually borders on distress, which in true \u201cThe Defog\u201d style, still sounds cordial. <\/p>\n
The album\u2019s moody sound has a lot to do with its predominant electronic sound, which is minimalistic. There are no doubt moments of luxuriance, but the keyboards mostly are robotic and sparse. But this doesn\u2019t compromise band\u2019s soulfulness a wee bit. The result, as evident on the album\u2019s most electronic cuts \u201cDrawing Pictures\u201d and \u201cThistle Stitched,\u201d is a touching hybrid of sadness and beauty. And the band delivers this somber concoction of moods as if it was rightfully ordained by the powers above.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":30742,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[8149],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-42417","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-the-defog","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42417\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=42417"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=42417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}