I hesitate to use the word space-y but, hell, what other adjective is there? Coming on like Jeff Lynne trying to make classic Floyd more soulful, Dave Hartley as Nightlands has wrought a sort of masterpiece in Oak Island, out on January 22 on Secretly Canadian.
On "Nico" that space-y sound gets fully articulated via the keyboards which are straight out of some 1970s film. The vocals, multitracked out into infinity, are warm and somehow still robotic.
The near funky beat behind "So It Goes" is like a deconstruction of a soul song. The guitar lines recall Spacemen 3, or one of those Silver Apples records, but it's not really a guitar-oriented song.
Nothing on Oak Island is what you'd call typical rock music. No, it's spacious and space-y, expansive, and nearly timeless. Impossible to pin down to one era or one influence, it's music that defies easy categorization.
Oak Island is out on January 22 on Secretly Canadian.
