Being earnest in pop music isn’t dead, by god! There’s Ian Jarvis, author of all music by the band Chairs, at the very least. And Kinnta Records as a whole in general, I guess — Documenters of sci-fi fantasies and love stories in pop melodies and 6/8 waltzes. All whimsy and wonder in the echo of a voice belting out beautiful little tunes. Spritely guitar and weaving McCartney-bass fills them out with a fireplace flicker, warm blankets wrapping up each and every tune on The Droning of an Insect Wing — one to keep you warm this February when the wind whistles and whips by, and the sun still barely seems to creep above the skyline, music lit by moonlight. A comfort-pop band, doing exactly the kind of comfort-pop record you’ve been searching for. Maybe a 1/4-folk and the rest heart-racing/warming indie — cascading guitar arpeggios drizzle like rain, the voice mirroring with its lyrics and the drums trotting along for the ride in sometimes pop, sometimes quasi-marches. Obvious effort put into this music, composition and performance alike, although the thing has the disposition of pure breeze and ease (which is totally unfair and I hate them). Well… at least it’s easy to listen to, so we have that going for us. One of the smoother downs I had the chance to down (again and again) in 2013.
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