Anison debut studio album review Memory Flashes
The UK indie rock band, Anison, have their debut studio LP, Memory Flashes, scheduled for release on the 30th April 2012.
Anison
The ten track album finds the band in their finest melancholic and emotional form.
Opening with Repeat The Process a whirl of guitar blurs in to view before the curtains open and the vocal strides across the track. There is a well developed drum rolling away keeping the track on course, as the instruments are permitted room to play across each other.
Sail Back To Sleep opening drum roll reminds me of a mix between Adam and the Ants and Bow Wow Wow before honing in to a superb floating vocal counter-balanced by a scratchy guitar. With injections of the explosive the softer material sections gain an ever greater definition, prior to the track closing with a 50 second flourish of guitar.
The opening salvo of Spatial Awareness maintains the enhanced energy levels, with the band coming together for a highly effective showcase of the mind-set of Anison. The band merge as one to deliver 3 minutes of a well concocted cocktail of music.
The Colour Red is a delightful piece of music which highlights the band in a stunning back-drop of dripping wax. The layering of sounds provides an opportunity for the band to dive in to a sweeping gauze and is played at a tempo which shows the band in a completely different light.
The Mariachi by title would lead the listener to anticipate a Mexican influence, instead the band let the ears wallow in a distinctly European space. The instrumental is given room to fly, as would be anticipated, while the references seem more drawn to Balkan Folk guitar fingering.
Pedestrian Thespian opens the second half of the LP with the band reverting to a more up-tempo track, exploring a space that they have defined with a highly distinctive vocal, which reverberates between the plaintiff and the assertive with equal impact.
In contrast Statuettes is acoustic in feel and while Anison evidently revel in the higher tempo, drama riven chorus, to my ears, they sit at their best in these far more introspective moments. The track retains the high impact of the faster pieces, but it’s sheer mutation to a reflective delivery adds a new dimension to the band, which marks them high above the fold.
Revert To Type encapsulates the sound fans of the band have come to adore, an opening which dramatically switches tempo with a defining drum reprise as the tempo gathers speed as though rolling down a hill, to an explosive conclusion. This is core territory Anison play very well and focuses the mind clearly on why the out-put is on one level easy to the comprehend, whilst complex in construction.
Set for release as the next single, Fluidity – is an exposé of the song-writing skills and delivery that the band possesses.
All of a sudden we are at the end of the release – Imaginary Lists – A plethora of new instruments alight on the ears and Anison deliver a tour de force for a finale.
The EP Spatial Awareness is available on 
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