{"id":3373,"date":"2016-12-13T12:30:21","date_gmt":"2016-12-13T12:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-owel-dear-me\/"},"modified":"2018-03-21T22:03:10","modified_gmt":"2018-03-21T22:03:10","slug":"review-owel-dear-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-owel-dear-me\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Owel – dear me"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/figure>\n

From the opening moments of their latest full-length, New Jersey’s Owel<\/b> produce of a warming, admirable, sense of grandeur as ‘dear me’<\/i> sweetly moulds tender pop-rock hooks with sweeping post-rock and intimate, emotional lyrics. Things start of brightly enough with ‘Slow’<\/i> as the quintet quickly put in the ground work to what they’re all about. Harmonious orchestration compliment Jay Sakong’s light vocals as his words wrap around the majestic instrumentation on offer. <\/p>\n

‘Pale Soft Light’<\/i> delicately keeps things ticking along with twinkling keys. ‘Too Young To Fall in Love’<\/i> brings a dark shade to Owel<\/b>’s heavenly sound through simple electro drums, ringing guitars and lyrical yearning.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Owel<\/b>’s biggest strength is their ability to build songs that leave you on edge; ‘Be Quiet’<\/i> tenderly builds towards a giant crescendo that is hugely satisfying. Likewise ‘Paper Hands’<\/i> is dizzying and harmonious and sees Sakong intricately take center stage once again. ‘Steal the Moon’<\/i> is reminiscent of Sigur R\u00f3s’ sparkling moments with soothing vocals and light keys joining atmospheric strings. It is Owel<\/b> at their most beautiful.<\/p>\n

For all it’s pleasantness, however, ‘dear me’<\/i> does occasionally outstay its welcome. ‘I Am Not Yours’<\/i> brilliantly builds itself up with intimacy and stirring indie rock guitars, yet the expansive use of strings takes it a step too far, while ‘Annabel’<\/i> lasts twice as long as it should.<\/p>\n

<\/i><\/p>\n

‘Not Today’<\/i> softly uses synths and electronic drums to its advantage, allowing the band to momentarily break away from grandoise instrumentation that dominates the record. Nevertheless, ‘Places’<\/i> offers one of the album’s ambitious moments blending compelling orchestration with warm vocals, stirring guitars and upbeat drums. It’s a late, compelling highlight.<\/p>\n

Introspective and occasionally cathartic, Owel<\/b> take you on an elaborate and bold journey on ‘dear me’<\/i> with effective results. They’re a band who seem comfortable in their skin; their grandeur is far from egotistical and every song is treated with care. With a little patience, Owel<\/b> have the potential to win over many admirers.<\/p>\n

3.5\/5<\/p>\n

‘dear me’<\/i> by Owel<\/b> is out now on Equal Vision Records<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Owel links: Facebook<\/a>|Twitter<\/a>|Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n

Words by S\u00eaan Reid (@SeanReid86<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the opening moments of their latest full-length, New Jersey’s Owel produce of a warming, admirable, sense of grandeur as ‘dear me’ sweetly moulds tender pop-rock hooks with sweeping post-rock and intimate, emotional lyrics. Things start of brightly enough with ‘Slow’ as the quintet quickly put in the ground work to what they’re all about. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[2478,359,2477,12398],"class_list":["post-3373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-dear-me","tag-equal-vision-records","tag-owel","tag-sean-reid"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nReview: Owel - dear me - Already Heard Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"From the opening moments of their latest full-length, New Jersey’s Owel produce of a warming, admirable, sense of grandeur as ‘dear me’\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review: Owel - dear me - 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