album review: "Atlas"

Artist: Real Estate
Genre: Indie Folk, Indie Rock
SOT's: "Past Lives", "Talking Backwards", "April's Song", "How Might I Live"

Atlas is the third release by New Jersey based, indie rock band Real Estate. After discovering one of my favourite songs of all time, I gave their sophomore release Days a listen, only to be a little disappointed with an overall homogeneous and indistinguishable sound. Atlas carries somewhat the same sound with it from it's previous album, however some songs in this record carry more emotion and feeling to it, and we can hear Real Estate take some risks by experimenting with guitar distortion effects and more sentimental lyricism. However, the homogeneity isn't all that bad; Real Estate's lethargic sound is based off of their melodic dual acoustic riffs, intricately soft folk-sound, and lead singer Martin Courtney's monotonic, yet harmonic vocals.



Let's delve into the songs that mostly sound similar to their Days songs. "Past Lives" has that hypnotic, lazy sound to it that we're all too familiar with from Real Estate. Lyrics that leak with nostalgia, mesmerizing acoustic work, and a hint of keyboards near the chorus makes this song such a 'lazy summer day' kind of tune. Disappointingly, this description matches with most of the songs on this album; "Crime" features a very beautiful guitar solo near the end of the song, the guitar bridge on "Primitive" carries a 'love ballad' type of sound and the chorus is quite affectionate, "Navigator" closes off the album with a sleepy and slow-tempo'd lullaby. Again, the similarity between these songs is not entirely disappointing - the harmony between the two acoustics and Courtney's voice draw together a dreamy, mesmerizing sound. Where the disappointment stems from is the expectation that Real Estate would've branched out more from their original sound, experimenting with different tempos, vocal ranges, or instruments.

This petty whining can be put to rest with songs like the instrumental track "April's Song", which features a unique guitar distortion effect that sounds almost similar to a Hawaiian steel lap guitar, giving off a very strong beach vibe to the song. Breaking from the more lethargic sounds, the guitar on this track hits more powerful and resonating notes than the rest, which is what makes this song so much more distinguishable from the rest. And the fact that the song is named after a girl makes it all the more reason for it to fit the 'summer love' niche. "Talking Backwards" fills in the void that "It's Real" from Days left for me, with a more upbeat drum line and energetic tempo. The dual guitar is at it's prime in this track, with the lead guitar taking the occasional break from the harmony with the rhythm chords to a catchy melody on the side. "How Might I Live" really surprised me with Courtney modulating his voice in this short yet charming song. It's the small details in this song that also separated it from the rest: a soothing clarinet in the background, echo-distortion on the guitar, and minimal percussion.

Overall, Atlas retains a lot of the band's old sounds from Days, but incorporated a few new features in a couple songs to experiment. Courtney's vocals manage to resonate talent even though he's mostly singing in monotone. The dual guitar bridges still manage to define what makes Real Estate such a promising and intricate indie band, making this album a definite 'summer music' album. Perfect for lazying in the sun all day with chino shorts, a pair of wayfarers and a bottle of lager.

6/10