Remember My Heart: A Brief Review Of The New Album From The Silver Abduction (Blue States & Lake Ruth)

There was a time in my life, when I was scouring import bins for new releases from Coctau Twins and Lush, that I'd have heard a song like "Remember My Heart" and run to the record store to find and buy everything by the band behind it. Now I run to Bandcamp.

I'm being funny but the truth is that anything featuring Allison Brice (Lake Ruth, The 18th Day of May) would likely get my attention. And her new collaboration with Andy Dragazis of Blue States is positively breathtaking in its loveliness. There's an elegance to The Silver Abduction by The Silver Abduction that's lacking in slightly similarly-minded records from other acts drawing from the same well of inspiration. The material here is part chamber pop, part whatever it is you call the music that seems retro futuristic that Stereolab and Broadcast made in their peak years, and part the sound of a dream sequence in some Euro film from the Swingin' Sixties. The whole record has a vibe that is downright intoxicating, frankly.

"Remember My Heart" is a catchy gem, while "Thermocline" uses strings and synth to chart a path towards the stars. Elsewhere, "The Arrangement" even ventures near a kind of Saint Etienne vibe. There's some variety here, yes, but each piece really occupies a sweet spot that seems like the kind of universe soundtracked by Stereolab, Komeda, or Sarah Cracknell. "A Long Reply", to use one more example, is almost a march, the deliberate pace of the piece giving this a neo-classical vibe, even as Allison's warm vocals keep things accessible for a listener. There's not one track here where I didn't sort of marvel at how well constructed the compositions were.

Allison Brice and Andy Dragazis work extraordinarily well together. Even without Brice's crystalline vocals there's enough going on in The Silver Abduction to earn high praise. And while Allison has ventured into this territory with her other bands, this project seems uniquely suited to her vocal powers as the arrangements adeptly match each of her performances here. Supremely assured, Allison Brice seems to be both leading the music onwards at times on The Silver Abduction, while at others using her voice as a piece in a larger puzzle, with Andy Dragazis orchestrating a sound both spacious in scope and intimate in impact. This is a very special record.

The Silver Abduction by The Silver Abduction is out now. Details below.

[Photo: Andy Dragazis]