Words: Ryan Getz
For those unfamiliar, Sound of Ceres features members of The Drums, Apples in Stereo, and Candy Claws.
Nostalgia for Infinity is an interesting name for a record. Being forever nostalgic doesn’t sound very fun. It’s a persistent wishing for once was, never living in the present moment. Never believing that the best is yet to come. Devoid of hope.
Yet, there’s a tension there. Nostalgia is tied with happy memories. So being caught up persistently in happy memories creates a sort of paradox.
This music is a paradox in a way that is mostly calming yet at certain points unsettling. Take “Ember Age” for example. The song flows in harmony with the first two tracks in its airy, almost carefree nature. But then, a minor key on some synths kick in and I feel as if I’ve been plunged into a Stephen King novel.
The start of “Hand of Winter” brings to mind Mount Eerie – if Victoria from Beach House replaced Phil Elverum on vocals. The start is unsettling in the best way. The brass kicking in over the dreamlike piano melody, after a foreboding intro that sounds like a summer storm blowing in, is a combination that sounds like it should be confusing when I see it written out. Yet it works.
“Side A” mixes horns with chillwave in satisfyingly psychedelic moment. It’s at this point I sense our journey through nostalgia creeping toward Tame Impala territory – but just because. Not because Sound of Ceres wishes they were them.
Anecdote: I took a break from writing this review to live stream a Trump rally. That got my blood pumping. I’m glad I have this music to calm me down. “Antiprism” is a cool interlude that gets that job done.
“Dagger Only Run” is the one of the most creative manifestations of dream pop I’ve heard in quite awhile. The airy shoegaze-like vocals really get the job done here. This song seems to pair best with the album art. I feel like I’m walking through a gateway to some sort of paradise. The song is not the ending of an album. It feels like a transition into something else that transcends the record.
Nostalgia for Infinity may not have you wanting to hear this record for infinity, nor have you pining for your past, but you’ll find things to enjoy in this fresh, unique dream pop composition.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/244056138″ /]
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