We got a small glimpse of School Of Seven Bells’s next LP (and member Claudia Deheza’s son) when Ben Curtis talked to us for a Progress Report on Disconnect From Desire, out 7/13 via Vagrant. He had this to say about the trio’s general direction:
We realized something else about our music, which is that there’s this heavy quality to it, this powerful quality that we weren’t really aware of because we were just writing at home. Going out and playing every night and discovering that, we got really inspired.
“Babelonia” wants to play it both ways it seems, and be the kind of tracks that sounds good over headphones or PAs. Though Curtis said the band tried to make the guitars not sound like guitars, here they’re quite clear and steady while the other elements — bits of voices and other guitars, eerily perfect harmonies from Claudia and sister/lead vocalist Alejandra, syncopated rhythms — dip in and out of the song. “Babelonia” sounds quite huge when they’re all happening at once. Alejandra’s lyrics are straightforward statements on self-sufficiency (“She is the comfort she seeks”), that contrast nicely with the sometimes-wild backing harmony. The best part are the song’s vocal arpeggios, which also have that strange perfection to them, so that they seem almost unhuman. Have a listen:
Download the song for the price of an email address via the band’s widget below.
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Hey, if i wanna listen to Stereolab i’ll put Stereolab on.
No you won’t, you liar. You’ll listen to this and like it.
You’re just right.
I LOVE this song! Everything works together so well and the song is catchy, upbeat but kinda calming too!
Sounds like a modernized version Seefeel track to me – but I’m not complaining.
It reminds me of Stone Roses, actually!
“You’re listening to a promotional blaa blaa” ah piss off
but awesome song
It sounds like the soundtrack to something I’ve dared not to see. It’s only catchy because the vocals are off-beat and repeats over and over.
Hey, if I wanna listen to Brett Simonsen i’ll put Brett Simonsen on.
But I don’t have any Brett Simonsen. No one does.
Not hatin’- just funnin’.