Seaons – Aprilis

By Ryan G

Note: The Cover Art of this album is a painting – “A Storm in the Mountains, Mt Rosalie”, painted in 1866 by Albert Bierstadt (1860-1902). A fitting visual for the journey that follows – warm tones in front of a storm.

I’m hesitant to type the band name because my Macbook keeps wanting to autocorrect this! Annoying. But this band’s music is definitely not annoying. And I enjoy the name choice.

The music of Seaons is organic, expansive, and innovative all at the same time. Seaons is effectively the next step of what Nashville/Texas’ Seryn touched on in their more dreamy moments. Other Lives is another band that comes to mind.

“I do believe in the sleeping saviors … the angels who lead us through heaven’s doors” the band sings at one point. The lyric reflects the sort of deliberate ambiguity the band is choosing with their direction throughout the record.

Seaons are one reason I find discovery of new bands so much fun. Just when I think every genre combination has been explored, a concept record (or is it?) of sorts comes out and expands my already wide horizons even further. Earlier I mentioned Other Lives as an influence on this album. Well, a song like “Revolution of Aprilis” emerges from the fray and leads me down a dreamprog path reminiscent of The Receiver, an enjoyable duo from my area. The dreamprog soon gives way to a dash of funk.

Each song is like this. Unpredictable and pensive. Yet fun and seamless. I glanced up to see what song was playing at one point only to see that yet another transition had taken place within the same song – but I didn’t mind because it was the “ooh, that’s cool” sort of thing that made me snap to attention.

Another quirk I’m dealing with in this review is that I keep thinking of local band comparisons, which are only going to mean something to a segment of the Tuned Up audience. I’m curious to see whom the Seaons guys would compare themselves to from their area.

“Nostalgia” wraps up the record in fitting fashion, by mixing an on point jazzy bass line into the band’s signature genre fusion, recalling a mood from an earlier time – well before the band members’ existence. Like the rest of the album, the adventure in the music leaves the heart warmed.

There you have it. While this record doesn’t immediately give me chills like some have, it definitely takes me to a familiar place that’s on the precipice of something grand.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m45PEj8jMF0[/youtube]

Score: 4.1/5

Seaons: Facebook | bandcamp

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