"Waves and Echoes" is only $13.00CAN plus shipping and taxes where applicable!

listen to
Quartet
Trace

Portal have been making warm and beautiful shoegazerish electronica for a number of years now. I've been keeping track of their work for a while, adding their discs to the ping things catalogue, doing little reviews for them, recommending them to friends I know will be interested. They've been something I've enjoyed sharing with others. And with the release of "Waves and Echoes" I'm pleased to say that they have a wonderful new disc that stands with the best of what they've done to this point. This is the one that stands out, the one that really deserves to make people stand up and say, "Damn, that's a great disc!"

Switching between lush instrumental pieces and lovely emotive vocal tracks, "Waves and Echoes" is a brilliant collection of tracks that resonate with the listener long after the last notes have faded. Take for example "Trace", where a slow lounge-y beat weaves in between a short keyboard program courtesy of Scott Sinfield. Vocalist Rachel Hughes provides engaging vocals and all told it becomes quite a smooth sensual experience. "Quartet" follows, using a repeated phrase over a soft drone, becoming one of the most hypnotic pieces I've heard in some time. As the track progresses other elements are added, but none so overpowering that they detract from the initial idea, rather they draw you in further, encircling you. Brilliant work.

Title track "Waves and Echoes" features Rachel's vocals matched with minimal tones and pads. It's a lovely piece filled with some brilliant lyrical turns of phrase that really connected with me. Sparse and lovely, this one stands out as a particular highlight of the disc. "Endgame" blends glitchy patches with a quiet bell melody. A nice example of how genres and ideals can be put together in refreshing and appealing ways. Skip ahead to "Sometimes", a song that brings to mind 40's film noir with the requisite smoky vocals and jazzy percussion. There's a lovely tension to this one, and we all know how much I like tension in my music...

"Light at the Centre" closes the disc, a swirling shoegazer piece that wouldn't seem out of place in a Gregg Araki film. It's a beautiful number, Rachel's vocals, chiming guitar, minimal drums, something so hopeful and bright about it that I can't help but feel my heart break from happiness. And that's pretty cool.

Portal make great music, and "Waves and Echoes" is a fine example of how great they are. I could spend time trying to sum up my points in favor of this statement, but I think it's better to let the music stand for itself. Check it out, you won't be disappointed.

rik - ping things