Spells Album Review

Dear Time’s Waste operates as a flexible lineup with its focus through singer and main writer Claire Duncan. The sound has been evolving over the last two or so years, and this is and this is their first full length album after the 5 song EP ‘Room for Rent’.

The opening track ‘Brains’ is a clear statement of intent. The music fades in, with a slow build on keyboards to stately guitar strumming then to a plaintive haunting melody. The timbres and tempo all evoke a dreamy sensibility, which demands that the listener take some time with it.

It’s not an unfamiliar soundscape, and would ring true with fans of the early 90’s so-called “shoe gazing” phenomenon (and its no surprise to see Slowdive and my Bloody Valentine name checked) and not without its charm. As the CD unfolds a larger dynamic range is revealed while the chief weapon of Duncan’s voice (breathy Bjork/Florence Welch) and lyrics (introspective/Poetic) is used to strong effect. The best moments tend to be the down-tempo ones, and its almost like the arrangements get lost when they attempt a bigger sound -an example being ‘These Words Stick me To You’ which sounds too much like The Cocteau Twins-by-numbers, and towards the last third of the CD the heavy use of reverb becomes a bit tiresome, as sounds tend to lose definition.

But at the end comes ‘We Are We Are Before’, easily the best moment here. Here is a song, plain and simple, with a beguiling melody and an affecting lyric, supported with some sonic architecture that is subtle and highly effective.

Review by Trevf