Album Review by EDF
A little while ago, I reviewed a compilation album called LIGHT YEARS AHEAD: THE BEST OF SOLARISERECORDS.COM, which featured UK band Urusen. Back then I was impressed by their musicianship and the quality of the track that was featured then. Now the two cousins, Peter Beatty and Ben Please have spent the best part of nine months, from recording to holding the finished product, to bring out something that is special indeed.
The thing that will strike the listener is the warm acoustic sound from the offset. Not only do we have two competent guitarist, they also sound tight. The lyrics are a bit ambiguous and that is fine as there is nothing worse then finding out what a song is about after the first listen. Who is THE MAN WITH THE SQUARE HALO? Don’t know, don’t care, just enjoy the track. The production is so good; you would swear that these guys were in the same room with you. Be impressed by the build up to BELIEVED and the cheeky AC/DC like lyrics on PILLOWS, “see although I have no pillows, Polly’s got the best pillows ever”.
HALLELUJAH is one of the few tracks on the album that features drums and bass together, giving this joyful track an extra dimension, “she’s gotta lot to say, but not a lot of time, for the likes of you and me now”. We continue with more acoustic musings on GOVERNMENT ANECDOTE, featuring some clever lyrics, “diverting their attention, we’ll hold them in suspension”.
This album is musically and lyrically so fresh that you will end up playing it again as soon as it reaches the end. Let’s just get one thing straight though, Urusen are not another Coldplay or Travis, their music is just too damn good to be lumped into the same category as those commercial no-hopers. Some people might call them folk, which they are not, but what I would call them is ‘music that will exceed people’s expectations’. That is a rare commodity these days, especially when most artists have to answer to a record label boss that will pressure and corrupt them. These guys don’t have that pressure and it comes across quite evidentially.
