Monday, January 28, 2013

REVIEW: Collarbones - Die Young

8.5 out of 10

There are a lot of bands out there dabbling in "Nu R&B" these days; Jamie Lidell (the king), James Blake (the prince/saviour), The Weekend (the radio friendly), How To Dress Well (the dark horse but still radio friendly) come to mind. There a lot of imposters in this genre unfortunately, but I am fond of said sound, I am just extremely picky on who makes the grade. 'Die Young' may (or may not depending on whom you ask) be one of the (if not THE) best releases in recent years that properly represents this "new sound's" re-birth/explosion.

Although (still) going slightly unnoticed in the states (so far) Collarbones are a young "up and coming" band whom create music via the internet machine. If you go to their site, you'll see they've got a decent size discography (most of which is free;), 'Die Young' is actually Collarbones' (Sydney/Adelaide duo) second official LP (the album where the duo have truly found their niche). 'Die Young' is a (pitch perfect produced) tale of teenage life. Starting with a small drone and then instantly bursting into a club banger of a beat, Collarbones certainly know how to start an album proper. Immediately I am reminded of Elite Gymnastics (which is a good thing), then the vocals come in (which brings to mind Jamie Lidell/James Blake); this is not your average "Nu R&Ber", this is something completely different with keeping the same aesthetic arrangements in-mind. Collarbones have perfected this sound in my opinion. It may be a bit more dancey/beat oriented, it may even be more slick (I think so), it really is something special; 'Die Young' has something for every future obsessed music listener out there. Catchy is underselling the instant addictive bond you will have with Collarbones.

Highly --highly recommended --ended (x58).

Standout Tracks: (love 'em all, especially..) Hypothermia (Feat. Guerre), Die Yong (Feat. HTML Flowers), Missing, Teenage Dream, One Day, Losing, Red (perfect ender)

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