Moon Ballads

After an initial couple of hesitant full-lengths, the Alpha Drone discography began to fill up with a great number of smaller releases, such as the 10 minute EP Moon Ballads. Despite the general ugliness present in the music of this project, the two songs on this release tread a fine line between horrible recording techniques that highlight prominent noise elements and the sweetness of dream pop. To divulge: the same old treble-heavy guitar lurks behind everything, casting spiky shapes over the fuzz of bass and general recording static, while light piano is played in a very coherent cycle. Vocals are a regular presence unlike with some of the instrumental material elsewhere, though remain level with the other sounds, moaning through in something approximate to a nasal indie/shoegaze style. The main difference between the two songs is the lack of piano in the second, which is replaced by a greater focus on guitar and stronger resonance of background drone and field recording ambience.

The things that are missing from Moon Ballads will scare some listeners right away. For a start, there aren’t any drums here despite the style being the most song-like of Alpha Drone’s changing sound. As such, the music offers no drive or sense of progression, lingering in the air like a cross between incense and the pungency of dead insects. Other than the gradual build-up of elements in the first half of ‘The Greatest Victory Is the Conquest of a Heart’, very little changes about the music, remaining flat and repetitive while casting feelers out slowly as the sound worms its way into the consciousness. Neither composition aims for a simple mood, nor do they go on overly long, so I don’t feel that the stagnancy causes any great problem. If anything, a slightly longer runtime may have led to a more hypnotic effect, matching well with the droning/shoegazing feel of the work.

Perhaps I won’t be the most frequent listener to these two songs, yet you can feel assured that what I experienced while listening was somewhere between enjoyment and active curiosity. For quirky moods, Moon Ballads is a great listen and might even stand a chance of being popular if the guitar was cleaned up into something tolerable for the average listener. Oh, and if this doesn’t sound like your thing, the titles are still a treat.