
A new single release from Animal Afterlife takes a very welcoming approach with a unique breed of honesty and a soundscape that reaches into the depths of funk, soul rock, and so much more. You have a robust and very full-bodied record that leaves you very satiated, especially if you listen to the album from beginning to end.
The Saints Underwater album features a diverse array of textures and sounds, and you can hear other influences coming in and out as it unfolds.
One of my favorite aspects about this record, aside from the vocals of course, is the lush approach and that guitar work in particular.
The guitar work across this album really brings things to life and adds such a layer of color and brightness to a lot of these songs but there are sways and swells of intensity that come and go throughout the record's course and the whole thing feels like it's alive and breathing in a sense.
A lot of that has to do with the energy level as well. To an extent, these songs feel almost like they were recorded live on the floor. Maybe some overdubs afterward but the energy feels as if everyone in the room was feeding off of each other the entire time and this adds a little bit of extra drive to some of these songs along with a synergistic sort of power that the record seems to put out for almost all of these tracks.
Now, of course, I wasn't there so I'm not sure the record was recorded live, in the moment, but I can tell you that listening to it makes you want to go see them live because if this kind of energy is captured on record so well, then seeing them live must be amazing.
Throughout this album, you have horns, organs, guitars, keys, walking bass guitar lines, and vocals that give off a massive character.
When I say this is a robust record, I mean exactly that. However, you end up getting attached to that soul and character, and it sticks strongly throughout the record.
For me, this was almost the most important aspect of the entire thing.
Singer and frontwoman Elle Randall really takes the cake in terms of giving pieces of herself lyrically but also giving off great deliveries that make the songs feel like they all came from somewhere real.
Again, I can't quite express enough how the entire band as a whole is what gives this thing life. These guys, and girls, are set to impress with a record that speaks volumes for the band as performers and songwriters as well.
I adore the fact that the deeper into the album you get, the more influences you begin to hear.
There is most certainly pop, classic rock, and more flowing through the veins of this record and you need to listen to the whole album to really soak that in properly.
I love the combination of color and edginess that peeks through with most of these songs and a lot of them are so incredibly danceable because of that funk backbone they stand tall from.
The band gets a solid groove going a lot of the time. You can't help but start moving to it.
By the second or third time around you can find yourself singing along with a lot of these choruses and at the very least most of them will end up bouncing around in your head for hours or even days after the songs have ended.
Listening to one or two tracks off this record will not give you anywhere near the full spectrum of what the album has to offer as a whole. This is how it was meant to be heard.
It's been quite some time since I was able to gain so much from listening to a record. The band has a very particular way of driving itself.
What I mean is each element, instrument, vocal, etc, compliments the next and you can hear how the drums bring the push and drive for these tracks to push the envelope to where they need to be.
Again, it's like they recorded it live, and everyone was feeding off of each other.
This is a record that you can really escape into.
I consider that to be a bit of a gift so I'm grateful for hearing a record like this one simply because when I listen to it, I don't focus on anything but the music itself.
It sort of pulled me away from my surroundings.
I love hearing a track on a record and immediately knowing that that band would be great to see live. This is exactly one of those moments. Listening to this album makes me completely understand that Animal Afterlife is simply going to be outstanding in a live performance setting.
Sometimes you can just tell.
Listen to this album in full because it's the best way to soak everything in and remember where you heard it first.
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