Take me back to school --- I'm ready to learn.
Ghostory --- School of Seven Bells --- 2012 (Ghostly International)
Strange thing about School of Seven Bells: I would never have been exposed to their music had it not been for the inclusion of the review of this album in my favourite mag, “Classic Rock presents Prog”. I was intrigued, and thought they were in fact a progressive rock band, when in fact it turns out they're really more ambient, electronic, and if Wiki is to be believed, my first introduction to shoegaze. Hmm. Well, I can definitely say that I'm impressed. Having realised they weren't really what I would think of as my normal prog rock band, I was still interested and attracted enough not to discount them, and their music continued on my playlist as I got more and more into the album.
So, who are School of Seven Bells? Well, they're a three-piece consisting of two identical sisters, Alejandra and Claudia Dehaza, and Benjamin Curtis, who met while in other bands and decided to leave their various projects and form School of Seven Bells. Though only together since 2007 they've already released four albums, two this year, of which this is the first. After the first two, however, Claudia left for personal reasons, reducing SSB to a duo, which is how the last two albums were recorded. Rather surprisingly, considering the type of music we're talking about here, I don't see any credits for keyboards, and indeed the only instruments mentioned are guitar and drums, though Curtis is shown also as “mixing”, so perhaps that involves some samples/synthwork? Can't see any evidence of such on the album though.
There are only nine tracks on the album, and no real epics, with the longest being the closer, coming in at just over eight and a half minutes, so the question has to be asked: is the album good value for money? On the strength of what I hear here (hear, hear!) I would have to say yes, it is, because each track is great and there are no real low points at all, rather rare on any album, although given this is my first --- albeit unwitting --- step into what's termed shoegaze territory, perhaps that's standard for the subgenre? I don't know, but this is certainly impressive.
The first thing that hits you is some pretty cool guitar, then the drums kick in and riding along a jaunty bassline the vocals of Alejandra are wispy, ethereal, almost elemental, like mist rising off a moor, a spirit in search of her former life. They drive everything about School of Seven Bells, and it's rather amazing really to think that this whole thing is created by just three people. The soundscape is certainly full, as “The night” opens proceedings with a big, bouncy, almost rocky beat, some clangy guitar reminiscent of the Police with a pounding drumbeat from Chris Colley that stops short of hammering into your head, and some great little tricks on the guitar that I definitely would have attributed to a synth.
The track ends on Alejandra's almost acapella vocals, then “Love play” opens on another sharp guitar line, augmented by thick bass and percussion, much slower and almost broody, showing the versatility of the singer, that she can handle slow, almost downbeat vocals with as much aplomb as she does the more uptempo material, and sounds quite comfortable in either sphere. However Ben Curtis's massive contribution to the music should not be overlooked; after all, without him Alejandra
would be singing acapella, or at least, with only percussion as backup. It's really impressive how expansive he makes his guitar melodies sound, and you really do have to remind yourself that this is his only instrument.
Like I said, if this is what shoegaze is all about I think I may like it. “Lafaye” edges more into trance territory, with big, heavy, thumping drumbeats and low bass, and it sounds as if Curtis is adding his vocal in here too, the net effect reminding me of The Eurythmics at times. Turning things a bit more on the industrial side is “Low times”, one of the longer tracks, with sharp, almost metallic drumming and a soft yet powerful vocal which for the first time almost --- how can I put this? --- solidifies. If we go back to my analogy of Alejandra as a disembodied spirit, her voice floating like a ghost, this is the first time she takes corporeal form and you hear a little more of the punch in her vocal. It's quite a boppy number, shades of New Order's “Blue Monday” maybe --- I don't know; I'm not that familiar with this sort of music. But there's definitely a part in the middle that mirrors that famous isolated drumming during that iconic song. Curtis's guitar is almost a heartbeat running through the music, simple but very effective. I don't really see him as being the kind of guy who does much shredding, or even rips off that many solos. He's more a workmanlike guitarist, concentrating on making it sound the best he can rather than showing off or being clever. There's a point near the end of the track however where I find it hard to believe he's not using a synth, but if that's the case then he's damn innovative. I can only go on what I've found about SSB, and no keyboards of any kind are mentioned.
Everything goes right down then for “Reappear”, with virtually no percussion and a very laidback, moody guitar line and sweeping soundscapes, Alejandra's vocal slow and dreamy, reflective and melancholic. Very ambient, and definitely the most downtempo on the album thus far. Some nice sliding bass accompanies the main melody, which is very ethereal, and then we're into “Show me love”, which fades in on a squeaky guitar line allied to a hard, churning guitar after which the drumbeat joins the melody and finally Alejandra's voice, ghostly and echoing, drifts across the music, painting her own little brushstrokes on the tune as the percussion gets a bit heavier and some sequenced voices come in and it definitely sounds like there's a keyboard in there. Hey, sue me if not. Or give Ben Curtis proper respect.
The tension in the melody builds up nicely right to the end, then “Scavenger” comes in on a driving drumbeat again somewhat reminscent of New Order, or what I've heard of them, which isn't much. Perhaps Depeche Mode. Something in that line. I'm not quite in my wheelhouse here, as they seem to be saying these days. Kind of reminds me of The The, now that I listen to it develop. Good uptempo track and again Alejandra's vocals are a little more back on earth and not quite so ethereal, with Curtis's guitar verging into Big Country/U2 territory. Time-delayed backing multi-tracked vocals add to the lady's already powerful and hypnotic vocal delivery, and there's a definite sense of OMD hidden away there in the melody.
One thing that really impresses me about this album is that really nothing drags. None of the songs are that overlong, to be fair, but every one seems to go by without any low points or bad ideas, and I doubt I'd skip a single track here. True, there are only nine tracks, but damned if they aren't all close to perfect. “White wind” rides on a recurring rocky guitar phrase from Ben Curtis, with again Alejandra's voice fuller, less ethereal, more grounded, and either some very fast basswork, or else it has to be a synthesiser. Very catchy anyway; I'm sure this would be great music to dance to. Or get stoned to.
School of Seven Bells have, however, saved the very best to last, and the standout comes in as also the longest track. Eight and a half minutes long, “When you sing” is a true triumph and really encapsulates what this band are all about. It starts on what surely must be strings, or at least a synth, then slow growling guitar slides in with spiralling soundscapes, some feedback and then a jangly guitar melody before everything stops for half a second, starts back up and the tempo rises. We don't hear any vocals till about two minutes in, and it's Alejandra at her ghostly, ethereal best, rising above the music, looking down and smiling upon it but subtly disconnected from it, a living spirit who can't touch the ground but can use her singing as her only communication, which is answered by Ben Curtis and drummer Chris Colley, the three meshing as one entity to produce something really special.
It's pure expressionism through music, ambient to the max, and yet with a rocky touch and some new-wave influences that really brings the song together into one cohesive whole. All through the album I've found it hard to make out the vocals, and really that would normally be a minus, but somehow with SSB this hasn't mattered to me as much as I would have thought it would. The pure, ambient, almost organic nature of the music makes it such that really, Alejandra could sing the telephone book or instructions for setting up Sky Plus on my TV and I'd still listen to her. She just has that sort of power, that magnetism in her voice that does, as I said before, really hypnotise you and you just want to listen to her sing. It doesn't matter what she's singing, you just want to hear her. And so this closing track is very appropriate, because Alejandra Dehaza, when you sing, I listen. And I enjoy.
TRACKLISTING
1. The night
2. Love play
3. Lafaye
4. Low times
5. Reappear
6. Show me love
7. Scavenger
8. White wind
9. When you sing
Sometimes there are happy accidents, and I would classify this as just such. Had this music not been quoted as being progressive rock, it's unlikely I would have got this album --- though I do tend often to be drawn to intriguing band names or album titles --- and I'm really glad I did. I'm not saying that I'm automatically going to like everything they do, or that I'm going to become a shoegaze aficionado (if this is indeed shoegaze), but I definitely want to hear more of this band's material.