![]() ![]() ![]() When you start listening to Alcest – and especially this record – it will take you away from reality for the duration of its runtime. It gives you space to breathe, time to enjoy, and softens your pace. It feels like a soft pillow on which you can rest your head. With Shelter, the French music project around Neige created its very own aesthetic a dreamy, cloudy sound that can do no harm reigns over the compositions of this record. There is no other band that inhabits a sheer unique sound like Alcest do. ![]() The record is a craft of beauty with such stunning resonance that ‘timeless’ is by no means an inappropriate word to describe it. Alcest never did a bad one, but Shelter is one of their nicest, and its with good reason that it’s a favoured choice among many ears. There is not a single stagnant point to be found within its 52-minute timeframe. The listener henceforth goes through a full-bodied journey, and the band clearly worked extremely diligently to make that happen. After this, the record floats deeper still on the riverbed of reflective intensity, before climaxing in suitably epic fashion via the delightful sounds of “Into the Waves”. Its overall cleanliness of sound really adds to the volume of its emotional content, and there is still some patented Alcest mystique to be found, particularly during the gorgeously mesmerizing halfway point, “L’Eveil des Muses”. The fact remains that this is about as in-depth a release from the French duo as one could hope for. So does this one pull Alcest out of the realms of blackgaze and into the characteristics of dream pop and soft rock? Who cares! Alcest do what Alcest do. This particular record, however, is one of the points in their timeline when they put the heavier aspects of their sound in a box to focus on something a little softer than the progressions of albums such as 2012’s Les Voyages de l’Âme. It’s somber, melodic, and downright lovely like the best of Alcest‘s back-catalog. ![]() All you true fans know what I’m talking about, and you can tell just by looking at the album cover that there is something a little different happening in Shelter. To the untrained ear, all Alcest albums might sound the same. The brighter and more upbeat (sort of) approach to an album makes Shelter really shine through within the Alcest discography. Overall, the dream pop mixed with shoegaze suits Alcest quite well. Luckily, the rest of Shelter really makes up for this hiccup. It’s like I’ve left Rivendell and am now back in the land of gross and disgusting humans. The English vocals really take me away from the flow of the record. The only real stumble, in my opinion, in Shelter is the inclusion of “Away”. All of the effort to build the base and foundation plus the addition of all of the parts on top of that is awe inspiring. The way that the ending is slowly built up with layers, emotion, and intensity must feel like an architect seeing their work in person for Alcest. The quiet introduction slowly builds until the final bit comes in and takes over for the next eight minutes. Some may call it repetitive, but I personally feel like it could go on even longer. “Delivérance” will continue to be in my top songs of all time. Truthfully, I think these people need to give it another spin, because they might be surprised to hear how quality it really is. If my battered memory serves me right, then I recall that fan outcry was loud and not too friendly towards Shelter. Shelter may be a stark left turn for them, but it pays off. The angelic feel all throughout the record is glorious, all the while the band still feel like themselves. My opinion may not be the popular one nor the consensus, but Shelter is my favourite Alcest release so far. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |