Words: Steve Knapp

The first thing that caught my eye about Cape Snow was their claim that they’re a cross-continental collaboration. It’s an intriguing proposition: a band divided by an entire continent. A hook that must mean their style is an amalgamation of sorts. And while there are a few elements traditionally at odds with each other, this self-titled album is solid for what it is but lacking in diversity despite its full roster of contributors.

It’s likely listeners will draw a comparison to Mazzy Star almost immediately once the record gets going: a soft-sung yet inspiring female vocalist accompanied by a backing band fit for a bar at last call. It’s an album fueled by tremolo guitars and electric keys floating unobtrusively above simple driving drum beats. Everything is tight and everything fits together, but it’s to a fault. The album does very little to set itself apart from similar genre releases that came before it.

The cog that stood out from the machine was the unique bass tone and the parts it was used for. It was soft and rounded yet aggressive enough to growl at you to let you know it was there. It gave much a needed bite to music that blended together all too readily in its subtle nature. For an album with so many collaborators, I expected more instruments to stand out in a similar fashion, but few did.

Cape Snow is an inoffensive and extremely listenable album, the kind of release that ends and leaves listeners unable to discern one track from another. The group does well to hold a flow and focus but struggles to grab attentions outside bass parts that are equal parts light and gritty. If you’re looking for nice, simple music to fill in silence on a lazy weekend, this is your album.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/210619294″  /]

Score: 2.8/5