23-12-2009Artist focus - Sound & Shape
Jack Daniels aint the only good thing to come from Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee. It's the backdrop to the sometimes spectacular and always enthralling music of the Sound and Shape.
When it's not blowing you away it's subtly soothing, serenading with the lighter conscious of imagination. The sound that accompanies their shape is a range of intelligently chosen blends of multiple genres intertwining musicianship with soaring vocal hooks and melodies that move more than most. The three piece have been carefully plying their craft and honing their skills first with the album 'Where Machines End Their Lives' and now with forthcoming January release 'The Love Electric.' Here at Rocksnail we examine 'The Love Electric' available later this month worldwide via Engineer Records.
The Love Electric
There's a hint of supreme Jazz super group Return to Forever in the twinkling guitar intro for the EP's title track. Throughout the EP the Sound and Shape seem to pay homage to classic artists and intersperse different stylistic manoeuvres to achieve this. The song is littered with well placed harmonious vocal interjections that even Brian Wilson could raise an eyebrow to. The raw passionate lines slip into place with the slowly picked clean guitar occasionally spruced with a resounding heavier chord interjection. The unhurried style subtly changes with the introduction of a more Indie like soloing and into a rolling snare that provides the backdrop for the songs killer hook. It doesn't stand out as pop yet it does ring through memorably. Finishing to a soft piano and drifting into soft footsteps towards an open door it blows the impression of the EP wide open. Its most definitely a promising start.
And then it's into 'The Space Between' with its groove laden funkstyled introduction, progressing into a strangely effusive yet delectable verse section which again highlights vocalists Ryan Caudle's impressive abilities to switch between harmony and the hook. This song has an overall more downbeat tempo nodding to a prominence of almost lounge music until its return to the initial riff which sends the body into gyrated spasms for its thumping end.
In 'And the clouds begin to part' I feel as if I'm lost in world of Vangelis or momentous film score ambience. It flips just as quickly with the introduction of the guitar into a hugely Pink Floyd-esque melodrama of sounds akin to the opening of 'The Division Bell.' This influence can be felt throughout, as the acoustic guitars merge into an anthem like wall of noise taking nods from more popular structures. It's as beautiful as it is inspiring, a simple yet blissful break in the short time of the EP. It slows down the listener and hones them into the enigmatic thinking behind the Sound and Shape.
'And We Begin as Two' is a union of rolling tom's and the bass sound that seemed to hit prominence in the previous tracks. It is slow as it is cautious until it hits a frantic flurry of quick strumming, signalling the intent that this song is wishing to break the shackles of what it is expected to be. It's these choices which allow the band to stand apart from many of their contemporaries; they make intelligent decisions regarding the direction, tone and structures of the songs. It slots in the unexpected in a way that falls into line with everything that is the norm.
'The Solitary Journey' is The Love Electric's piece de resistance. In its title it sums up the process of listening to the Sound and Shape. Their talent is available for all to see, yet it is with a pair of headphones in a personal surrounding that the Sound and Shape really come into their own. It becomes as inspiring as it is artistic. This ten minute plus epic is diverse enough to keep you entertained throughout, slipping in casual soundscape greatness, blissful instrumental interludes occasionally seasoned by the characteristically soulful Caudle. It rifles off epic guitar tracks and highly strung, slowly picked notes to then contort to an oddly paranoid and elusive midsection with whispered words eerily soaking through the psyche and leaving you with the vocal, 'Welcome to the search.' The pace picks up to near frantic proportions with the fast rhythmic bass line and guitar twinned leads yet the song remains in calm control right up to its unwanted ending.
There are few bands who could release such a mixture of styles and sounds yet remain such credence, the fact that Sound and Shape do it as a three piece only makes the feat more impressive. It's quite probable to see it all being pulled off on a live scale to mesmerising proportions and even then it could be in front of ten people in an intimate show or a thousand in a grand arena. Their penchant for diversity opens a spectre of possibilities and it will be interesting to see how these possibilities materialise over the coming months.
Our advice: Pick up this EP as it is most definitely one not to be missed!
Sound and Shape Interview
How does the landscape influence the band's music?
Every minute of everyday is an inspriration of some sort.(Ryan) We draw from our emotions. (Dave)
What do you see every morning when you get up?
Before everything comes to realization, I have this strong want and passion to play music. (Jerry)
If you had to pigeonhole Sound and Shape to one genre which would you go for?
Rock and Roll!
Our songs all appear inspired by something, well planned and a definite conscious. Is this something you have deliberately aimed for?
Musically, there is a concious effort for arrangement and precision. I view them as compositions because of the way they move from scene to scene.(Dave)
Lyrically, there are underlying themes that run throughout with out getting too specific, I try to instill a sense of hope in looking forward to our songs while being able to look back and learn from previous events.(Ryan)
Can you give UK readers an insight into just what the US is like for bands at the moment?
It's extremely cutt-throat and superficial.(band) Our culture is rappidly loosing sight of what it is to be a human being.(Ryan)
How much does what's going on in the country affect the band?
What's going on with the country definitely affects our mood and strengthens our resolve to try to make a change for the better.(Ryan)
How does your sound convey live as a three piece?
Aggressive and thick.(Dave) Powerfully energetic and raw with an extreme sense of dynamics and space.(Ryan)
What are you expecting from the upcoming tour of America?
Well, we definitely wanna make it out alive. Ha! Touch souls, heal hearts and and spread the love by selling this EP.(Jerry)
Any plans to get yourself over to the UK or Europe?
ASAP, who's buying? Ha!(band)
What bands or artists would you say have helped create the sound you have at the moment?
All of our musical heroes serve as influence and inspiration and it's our drawing upon the diversity of our taste that allows us to make compelling music!
Check out more images of Sound and Shape in our Gallery
