Those of you who know me well know that while my music interests are varied, lately (as in, the past few years) I've mostly been listening to hip hop music. I wanted to do a review of a new album I've been really into lately that isn't a hip hop album. That album is Sunbather by Deafheaven.
I found this album somehow by stumbling across links on Pitchfork. I think I was checking out some bands I had found on Vimeo, and a Deafheaven link came up at the bottom of one of the pages. Anyway, I saw the Pitchfork album review, saw that it was rated well and read the album description, and I decided to check out the album. It's an incredibly easy album to get into because the opening track, Dream House, is so powerful. It's very atmospheric with fast-paced guitars and percussion, and very emotive-but-subdued "screamo" vocals. The next track, Irresistible, blends in perfectly with the first track and provides a really nice contrast; it is a very melodic entirely instrumental track. The album generally follows this pattern of a long black metal/emo/screamo track usually followed by a shorter more melodic track.
I can't really do the full album review the same justice as the experts can, so I refer you to the already linked Pitchfork review, as well as The Needle Drop's album review.
What I really love about this album is how accessible and melodic it is, and yet how emotive and powerful a lot of the tracks are. I don't listen to a lot of black metal (which is I guess how the band labels themselves), and I think black metal is generally a somewhat inaccessible genre for outsiders. Yet I was able to pick this album up really easily. This may because the album is non-traditional to the genre, but I like it.
I'm especially excited because I'm attending the Pitchfork Music Festival in July, and I found out (having already bought tickets) that Deafheaven will be performing there. I'm looking forward to seeing them live!