Tag: Single Review: White Light

Earlier this month, I wrote about the  The Liza Colby Sound, a New York-based rock act comprised of Liza Colby (vocals), Tom McCaffrey (guitar), C.P. Roth (drums) and Alec Morton (bass) that has developed a reputation both across town and elsewhere for a swaggering and soulful take on blues rock, and for their frontwoman’s stage presence, which some  some have described as Tina Turner prowling the stage like Iggy Pop. And as you may recall “Cryin” off the band’s soon-to-be released EP Draw was a sultry, whiskey soaked, power chord-based rock song that paired Colby’s soulful pop star belter meets  Janis Joplin vocals with anthemic hooks and a propulsive backbeat; but as Colby explained in press notes, the song is rooted around a duality between muscular insistence and vulnerability, “‘Cryin” is the devastation of heartbreak. It’s an explosion of emotions. The manic, mixed with moments of complete composure. It’s thinking you have a winning hand and realizing it was shit.”

The band’s latest single “White Light” finds the band pairing slow-burning power chord-based blues-inspired, classic rock with a psych rock-like melody, nodding at Led Zeppelin‘s “How Many More Times,” and “Ramble On,” complete with an anthemic hook but throughout the song, the song’s narrator questions what it is to actually be human. As Colby describes the song it’s a “psychedelic journey through the human existence.”

 

With the release of their first two full-length albums 2012’s self-titled debut and 2014’s Adorn, the Canadian experimental pop/ambient electro pop/dream duo You’ll Never Get To Heaven — comprised of Alice Hansen, a classically trained pianist and violinist and Chuck Blazevic, a studio obsessed tone-sculptor and monome performer — quickly received attention nationally and internationally for a staunchly DIY/independent ethos and for lush, deeply textured compositions that are roomy enough for Hansen’s ethereal cooing.

And as a result of their growing profile, they caught the attention of Yellow K Records, the label home of Eskimeaux and Japanese Breakfast, who officially released the band’s third full-length effort Images today. And while the album’s fourth and latest single “White Light” will further their reputation for crafting lush and textured pop, it offers a subtle expansion into their sound as the slow-burning single features gently swirling electronics, twinkling synths and percussion, brief bursts of industrial clang and clatter to create a fever dream-like vibe — in which the narrator and the listener can’t quite discern if they’re completely asleep and or dreaming or awake and hallucinating.

Interestingly, while the Canadian dream pop duo have in the past been rather reclusive,  they’re currently planning their first European and north American gigs to support Images over the course of the Spring and Summer of this year, so be on the lookout; however, in the meantime, if you’re in Ontario over the next few weeks, you can catch them live. Check out dates below.

Tour Dates
03/31/17 – London, ON – First Spiritualist Church
04/07/17 – Toronto, ON – The Baby G
04/16/17 – Ottawa, ON – Le Temporaire
04/18/17 – Sarnia, ON – Refined Fool Brewing
04/19/17 – Hamilton, ON – The Casbah