Seeming
Madness & Extinction
12 Track Debut Album
Artofact Records
Released 11th March 2014
Superb!
Written for Grave Concerns e-Zine
Seeming – New York
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/seemingmusic?fref=ts
Listen
Here:
Genre: Post-Human / Post-Gothic / Post-Political / Post-Dance
Brief Biography:
Alex Reed is the author of the book Assimilate: A Critical History
of Industrial Music and along with Aaron Fuleki who with Alex have both made
records and played 100+ shows with the successful dark wave band ThouShaltNot.
Now here are two musicians that offer bags of talent between them.
Incorporating heart felt lyrics and poignant sounds that although have a 80s
feel have put their special twist of the 21st century on them, which
is more than creative.
They 'seem' alright to me!
The Eyes of Extinction
With a waxing lyrical vocal that is pure as the driven snow that
simply melts amid timeless and saturated rhythms this is one track that really
stands out for being blessed with a blossoming creativity.
New Year
A beautifully crafted track and from it you can almost picture the scene
set to a theme tune that is just as poignant as the track itself.
It’s a new year in an old house
With more technology you’ll never understand
Break out your typewriter with your “these” and “thou’s”
Smearing old words with your old hands
You’ll call me Cassandra; I’ll call you King James
And all we write is true and all of it insane
But the changing of the seasons will forever stay the same, you say
The infantry’s retreating
Like they knew how this would end
Did you hear the Germans lost the war?
I bet they could use a friend
Right now supper’s getting cold
Right now God is growing old
Right now dialect is evolving
Outside this house
Or so I’m told
It’s a real fear for you and me
Burning clothing just to keep the winter warm
My fingers trace the gum line of a skeleton key
Not caring whether it could open up the door
And the faces at the window are children in the womb
Black-eyed and still but growing every day
You’ll die on the outside or die in this room, either way
Our infancy’s receding
We’re a heartbeat from the end
Did you hear the madmen lost the war?
I bet they could use a friend
Right now supper’s getting cold
Right now God is growing old
Right now dialect is evolving
Outside this house
Or so I’m told
We’re stockpiling warheads, we’re stuck in the past
Death is art, truth is beauty, and the first shall be last
You’ll call me Athena; I’ll call you Monet
When the world is falling down, crumbling like clay
We’re hiding in caverns, forgetting our names
We dissolve in our mythology like blood in the rain
You’ll call me the lion; I’ll call you the lamb
I am lost in all you are; you’re alive for what I am
Celestial
A beautifully carved track with poignant lyrics adding ambient
imagination that transports the listener to new realms.
Everything could Change
This is a formidable dark edged track that winds and twists within
sharp keyboard notes and lingering vocals.
Goodnight London
Again very clever lyrics are contained within a simple track that
offers an entrancing edgy imagination.
Come Back
Sown into this track are deep resonating grooves, crisp rhythms and
a melody that lingers with haunting effect. Indeed a very beautiful enticement
that has a medieval feel.
The Shadows
Gnarly and stunted synth notes, portray a confident stride into what
is a very diverse track, even the vocals take on a darker stance with a Gothic
doom flavour.
“Words mean a lot to this band
that is pretty evident from its workings.
For a debut album it is the pinnacle of what will follow – rich styles,
pleasing rhythms and a vocal that is haunting and can weave the poignant lyrics
into a tapestry of fine art”
The Burial
A seductive track that holds plenty of simplistic rhythms and a
chorus that catches the attention although the whole track should warrant the
attention it deserves.
To the lighthouse that faithfully whispers the fisherman starboard
To the children whose days number more than every flower in Europe
To the nations who charter their florid colonial highways
To the towers erected by contractors named after kings
God will bury you; nature will bury you
To the gunmen who guard against all of the starving
God will bury you; nature will bury you
To the screens and the radios where words turn to weapons
God will bury you; nature will bury you
To the terrified rich man
God will bury you
To the killer of animals
Nature will bury you
To the worship of justice
The reliance on reason
And the fire in your eyes
God will bury you
Nature will bury you
Time will bury your bones unseen
Total and absolute
Infinite amplitude
Till all the black is ripe in green
And I’m not angry, I’m not sad
I’m just stating the fact that
God will bury you
Nature will bury you
Beautiful for the last Time
Scintillating rhythms pervade the senses in this poignant little
track as it caresses and coaxes on its absorbing journey.
Convincing
Starting with a haunting rhythm and a slow and precise vocal
accompaniment it’s overshadowed with a melancholic structure, but the words are
forthright and poignant.
Welcome to the Sun
Intensive and striking beginning that unfolds and a beautifully soft
vocal pours out the words...
It’s the start of the season
The dawning is near
The Age of Fish comes
Announcing the news of the year
The tiger returns to her jungle
The wolf comes home to his yard
When you say it feels good to be back
Then it’s just one step further on to the heart
It’s the start of the season
Creep out of the Ark
Leave your sticky asylum behind
And step out of the dark
There’s an open horizon before us
There is a rainbow under my eyes
The detector reads low radiation
And you’re fearless to rise till you’re high
Getting over
It’s the start of the season
Over the land
A mockingbird is singing a song
Near the Tide’s Restaurant
As you undress your movie-blue diving suit
Your innocent skin shines so white
Oh, we shall be one under the sun
Right here in the power of the light
Come to the summer
Welcome to the sun
All of this really happened
Finishing off this twelve track CD comes an ambient defined drama of
darkness. The raw hissing of deep sounds and faint toms peer out of the gloom
and awaken with a shrill flurry of keyboard.
Its eerie flushes of violin strings and sampled voices come through the
ripples of imagination though leaving a bitter taste.
To Sum up:
Here we have a band that are not afraid to clearly think through
some ‘out of the box’ lyrics and weave them into something beautiful and
absorbing. These rhythms offer great comfort to the listener and is a clear and
precise compelling ride.
Words mean a lot to this band that is pretty evident in its
workings. For a debut album it is the
pinnacle of what will follow – rich styles, pleasing rhythms and a vocal that
is haunting and can weave the poignant lyrics into a tapestry of fine art.
9½/10
Track List:
The Eyes of Extinction
New Year
Celestial
Everything could Change
Goodnight London
Come Back
The Shadows
The Burial
Beautiful for the last Time
Convincing
Welcome to the Sun
All of this really happened
Members:
Alex Reed - Voice & Keyboards
Aaron Fuleki - Drums & Programming
