By YH Etheart
School of Seven Bells
Disconnect from Desire
Vagrant Records/Ghostly International)
School of Seven Bells’ warm and welcome sound is a throwback to the earlier days of the seminal record label 4AD and bands like Slowdive, Pale Saints, and (the gentler moments of) My Bloody Valentine. Their debut, 2009’s Alpinisms, was an ambient, evocative album, with hints of electronic pop, anchored by the ridiculously great “Half Asleep” and record closer “My Cabal.” The biggest strike against it was that it had a tendency, at times, to recede into the background, with too little difference between some of the tracks, making the perfectly manipulated vocals of twin sisters Alejandra and Claudia Deheza seem like too much of a good thing. Which is why their sophomore effort, Disconnect from Desire, is such a nice surprise—the Dehezas and bandmate Benjamin Curtis add a huge dose of dance, and they make it work.
While Alpinisms wasn’t exactly what you would call a dour effort, Disconnect from Desire is decidedly more upbeat, right from the start. “Windstorm” is a pretty, peppy little pop gem, followed by mannered yet propulsive dance numbers like “Heart is Strange” and “Babelonia.” Nothing gets too jarring or feedback-driven; we’re talking some seriously retro synth-pop numbers here (the slightly melancholy “I L U” and the more up-tempo, bass-heavy “Bye Bye Bye”). “Joviann” could pass for a missing Cocteau Twins song, and “Dial” is an atmospheric little rocker. And the soothing/soaring “The Wait” sounds like it could be swapped back in to the first album.
Sometimes you wish that School of Seven Bells would try harder to sound discordant—nothing feels dangerous, and they very rarely mine beauty out of noise like the best of their dreampop predecessors (or some of their “newgazer” contemporaries). But Disconnect from Desire certainly delivers on enough levels, and there’s nothing wrong with an album that feels a little more fun than it does “smart”—especially when it’s done this well.
Released on July 13, 2010
Track Listing
1. Windstorm
2. Heart Is Strange
3. Dust Devil
4. I L U
5. Babelonia
6. Joviann
7. Camarilla
8. Dial
9. Bye Bye Bye
10. The Wait
