Another one of those good indie bands that you haven’t heard before, Ravens & Chimes have been making solid indie since 2005 with 2 full lengths released and well received. Their new album The Empty House is out March 22nd. Two singles are out and while one is dope, the other one seems to be growing but doesn’t quite fit its britches.
“Big Ups” hits it out of the park with a really fun beat, an equally playful synth, and buoyant lyrics. The song is polished and shows off the singer’s vocal range. It’s a 2:30 romp of easy going indie.
“Irreplaceable Artifacts,” on the other hand, takes you on a (sometimes unpleasant) journey. It doesn’t fool you with tight pop, but through airy organ and percussion it creates the framework for a tale (“I passed the restaurant you worked in years ago… Where might I find you now?”). The song lingers on lessons learned from loss and the ever present past. It tumbles along not really gelling too well until the slow part that builds back up to a crescendo. Here, the themes of loss and fear are audible in the slight quiver of the singer’s voice when suddenly the song ends on an open premise “. It’s an interesting listen that needed better production to reach the potential it showed.
But, I’m excited. Ravens & Chimes aren’t a new band and they got some solid praise for their 2007 debut Reichenbach Falls. They’re not as art house avant-garde as before , so they’re more accessible now with catchy indie pop and a bit of evolution occurring right before your ears.
2019 Check This 2019– these two songs and everything else that check this commands! “Follow Me” it says.
The Indy Review 