Strange Conversations: Blasé Faire

Here is another interesting project from 2019. The band is Strange Conversations, led by the brothers Joseph (vocals) and Jeremy (vocals, keyboards, piano, xylophone, bass, drums) Haynes. Their first album titled Teaching Me To Fish came out in 2017 and went unnoticed by me. As a side note, reading on their Bandcamp page that album is a homage to their father (RIP) who obviously loved to fish. This brought back memories for me as my own dad (RIP) did indeed teach me the art of fishing and we spent many an hour doing just that, on the water at the lake and just enjoying the outdoors. Fond memories. It just goes to show how different music can effect different people in profound ways and sometimes without even hearing a single note.

OK, now that we have that out of the way, what to make of this album which no doubt will go under the radar for many. Folks, it’s really good and I suspect will be well worth a listen for many of our readers. The band play melodic rock and pop music smartly influenced by progressive rock. The melodies and musicianship is of high quality and they even acquired the one and only Derek Sherinian to help out on keyboards on three tracks. That right there should tell you something.

“Fractured� leads the disc off with some intelligent proggy/melodic rock. Of note are the dramatic keys and vocals, some nice choirs here and general all around catchiness. Very nice indeed. The guitar is more razour sharp in “Ferris Wheel�, another excellent track. The mid-tempo “Better Late Than Never� features some sublime atmospheres of textural electric guitar and acoustic strumming to go along with some touching and meaningful lyrics. Another fine vocal arrangement can be found in "Between The Cracks", accompanied by some excellent fiddle and xylophone.

All told, Blase’ Faire is a fine rock album, with touches of the past melded with modern proggy sounds, especially the keyboards but also adding some unexpected touches (like the use of horns in the first track). As such, I recommend rock fans check this one out.

Track Listing:
1. Fractured
2. Ferris Wheel
3. Better Late Than Never
4. Spirals
5. Between the Cracks
6. Start Again
7. Time & Intention
8. She Doesn’t Deserve It
9. Stranglehold
10. Oddest of Daze

Added: July 3rd 2020
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Band @ Bandcamp
Hits: 768
Language: english

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