The Fresh & Onlys

House of Spirits

BY Farah BarakatPublished Jun 10, 2014

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House of Spirits marks the second full-length release by the Fresh & Onlys on Mexican Summer Records. Their newest work continues where Soothsayer, their 2013 EP, left off: fuzzy noise, elements of psychedelia, a strong knack for bouncy power-pop riffs and a focus on lyrical composition. In the days of over-produced digital effects and synths, it's comforting when a band keeps ties to the familiar without venturing into an all-new sound. House of Spirits is a flurry of drum machine-anchored ballads and lush analog production, taking it (just a tad) into a new realm without straying too far from the old.

The album's first half is a series of musings and surrealist lyrical content drawn from the dreams and subconscious activity of frontman Tim Cohen. "Home Is Where" is an absurd track constructed as though it were a surrealist nightmare, as jumbled, random wordings are pieced together to formulate otherworldly ideas. The second half of the album finds the protagonist awake and lucid, and thus more clear-headed thoughts are expressed. Cohen says that the album's overall theme expresses the idea that "Home is where your feet are."
(Mexican Summer)

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