Revere don't seem to be a band in any hurry. Despite being active in one form or another since 1995, Hey! Selim is the band's first feature length album after a wave of self-released EPs brought the band to acclaim outside of their London base.
The band's social networking potency has seen the band feature at the "Best of Myspace" event, taking place on September 8th at the Bull & Gate in Kentish Town. With social networking fanbases notoriously fickle, the real matter at hand is that Hey! Selim marks 15 years hard work for Stephen Ellis. Time well spent?
At their best, the band create those musical landscapes that borrow the breath from your lungs, as perfected by Sigur Ros, Explosions in the Sky, Godspeed You! Black Emperor et al with ever-ascending movements and complex rhythmic structures offset against Stephen Ellis' agonized vocals. These elements combine supremely on 'The Escape Artist', which simmers majestically before boiling up to its euphoric choir-led climax. Similarly, 'As the Radar Sleeps' is a cinematic gem that layers up violin, glockenspiel and cello, not sounding out of step with the outputs of messyrs Zimmer and Morricone.
It's all highly effective, accomplished stuff; frighteningly so... worryingly so?
At their worst, Revere miss badly, with 'I Can't (Forgive Myself)' and its tedious, for-the-heck-of-it gypsy waltz. It's just all a little too contrived at times with archaic genres frivolously patchworked into immaculately conceived but sadly sterile ditties. At times Hey! Selim recalls a higher budget, grander, longer Adam Green album. But while with Green you're in on the joke, with Revere your wry smile is met with a straight face throughout. I was left with the feeling that the producer might be the type to wash his hair on a daily basis. Something that would leave the hair with a shiny finish, but not without substantial damage to this figurative mane.
Unfortunately, many of the problems lie at Ellis' door. His charmless whinnying vocals grate mid-way through the album's hefty running time. The 7 minute long, 'I Bet You Want Blood' is symptomatic of the most worrying of recurring buzzwords that dog this release: charmless.
Hey! Selim is the mega-rich, round edged blockbuster that will delight many with its firmly widescreen slant on post-rock. It's a bucket full of hot chocolate with 5 spoons of sugar, whipped cream, and grated cinnamon. It's earnest, the production is immaculate and it's performed with gusto and flair; only, I don't give a hoot for blockbusters where I know the good guy will live on a 500inch plasma HDTV. Give me the gritty character drama on my bedroom's 16incher that might need a tap or two for colour... and a cup of tea while you're there. No sugar.
Hey! Selim is released on Monday September 6th 2010.
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At their best, the band create those musical landscapes that borrow the breath from your lungs, as perfected by Sigur Ros, Explosions in the Sky, Godspeed You! Black Emperor et al with ever-ascending movements and complex rhythmic structures offset against Stephen Ellis' agonized vocals. These elements combine supremely on 'The Escape Artist', which simmers majestically before boiling up to its euphoric choir-led climax. Similarly, 'As the Radar Sleeps' is a cinematic gem that layers up violin, glockenspiel and cello, not sounding out of step with the outputs of messyrs Zimmer and Morricone.
