MEADOW ARGUS
Dancing Through A Slow Apocalypse
Sunshine Coast Hinterland, Ausralia
Meadow Argus’s experimental psych-rock-folk sound has never sounded more refined and definitive. Their latest release, ‘Dancing Through a Slow Apocalypse,’ is an album full of complex textures and swirling melodies paired with engaging, shifting vocals that delight at every turn. It is a journey, truly, and one that every indie rock fan should endeavour to finish. The general tone and feeling on the album is one of a superior bond. Each instrument, each section and harmony is born from the other. The sound comes at you as one wave, totally connected to each of its particulars. The sound is one, it’s panting and vocal and it’s ‘Dancing Through a Slow Apocalypse.’
‘Is That You?’ pushes the instrumental of the album at you without a moment's delay. The blend of synths and bells and shifting bass, rising slides and found sounds are intoxicating. Your eyes glaze over and you are left feeling only the rising-falling breath of Meadow Argus. It's an instrumental track that works to break your inhibitions surrounding psych-rock. It's a genre that many tread lightly in, but it's not scary if you let go. And let go is what you shall do.
‘No Company’ riles you out of your slumber, yet you do not wake. You arise in a lucid dream. A world governed by mass arpeggiators and heartfelt lyrics. The song plays before you and it sucks you in with its tonal synth bass and human vocals. They swell with the pace of the song and work to keep a tangible line of communication between you and the song's deeper meanings. Without that voice, you would be lost to the synth-space, doomed to forever fall in limbo. ‘Dancing Through a Slow Apocalypse’ ironically doesn’t ever hang around for long. Soon you have whisked away to the next sound and the next sound and so on. It's invigorating.
‘Sweetgrass,’ ‘Tiny Flames’ and ‘House Husband’ band together, like triplets in a psych rock perambulator. They are poppy in their melodies, conduct some smashing choruses fuelled by addicting hooks and leave you dancing to the rhythm even after the song has finished. They alone could make an EP worth writing home about, but together, with the rest of the album, they work to deliver a more complete image, one that shows us exactly what Meadow Argus can do. They can caress the soul and tingle the back of your eyes with their experimental harmonies and instrumental tracks, and when they want you to move you will obey. Their melodies are slick and refreshing and they have an answer to every musical question. Above all else it's fun. You feel as if you are discovering the songs along with them, alighting on ideas and getting carried away by your inner muse.
‘Sleep’ and ‘Dance With Me’ close out an incredible album by slowing us down and bringing us back to reality. Throughout, the instrumental is tight, eclectic and full of frills that are so unique they feel like personal discoveries. Another noteworthy factor is that there are multiple vocalists on the album and each fits their songs like a glove. The tone, the textures, the cadence; it all works to complete the sound that would get me merrily ‘Dancing Through a Slow Apocalypse.’