After the past week of listening to their debut self-titled album, Strange Acres has tellingly found a strange place in my heart. Falling along the lines of other female-fronted dark pop bands like Now, Now (one of my personal favorite bands) or Still Corners, Strange Acres is perfectly crafted, and is close, at least in my mind, to being an archetypal definition of music one would describe as "chill."
For those Buffalonians familiar with the Harvestsum crew, band members Molly Grace and Jason Mazzariello are alumni, coming from Sleeping Kings of Iona and Vera Lena respectively. Strange Acres' unique approach to songwriting has resulted in a record full of what could have just been bare-bones acoustic songs, developed solely with an acoustic guitar and Grace's vocals. Instead, these songs are gentle and haunting, and are at times so reserved that they are almost emotionally crushing. These songs could easily stand on their own without the electronics, but these songs have been masterfully orchestrated, and it is essentially what makes the band so profound.
Album opener "Faith" immediately caught my ear and ended up being one of my favorite moments on Strange Acres. The instrumentation is simple and the electronic orchestration is minimal, but Grace's voice is strong, albeit hushed. Her lyrics paint an extremely blunt picture of her faith. The music is droning and stark... But something about these songs is so striking. It's moving enough to give me a sinking feeling in the pit of my heart. And that's saying something.
First single "Black Smoke" is another cold, shiver-inducing track. If you dissect Strange Acres' music, you can see how simply the songs were structured when they were first written. But their strength lies in the ever-swelling orchestrations in their songs. "Black Smoke" is beautiful, but doesn't hit its apex until about 1:15. This song could have been a simple dirge, but it explodes into a myriad of haunting tones and ghostly oohs. You would think music like this leaves little room for a drummer to show off, but the simple drum fill at 1:58 is one of the most jarring and exciting moments on the CD. I'm not sure how else to praise Strange Acres without coming right out and saying it - Strange Acres nailed it. They know exactly what they are doing.
Most of Strange Acres sounds a lot like "Black Smoke," which is a good thing. "What's My Name?" could have easily been a great Phantogram song in another life, and songs like "Fatal Sons" keep Strange Acres' penchant for slow-burning alive while somehow introducing a hint of Bjork influence. But album outlier "Fire of 66" stands out as a highlight for simply being an outlier on the rest of the album. Riding heavily on a rolling tom beat and vintage, fuzzy organ tones, this song is Strange Acres at their most upbeat... Not to mention, Grace really seals the deal with her soaring ending note.
Like one of our previous chill-wave Albums of the Week, Huntress from Camp Counselors, Strange Acres is bound to make our best-of list at the end of the year. Until then, check out the music video for "Black Smoke" below.
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