‘Rome’ is a record that comes along infrequently if ever. Coming from an indie-jazz quartet who are pushing the boundaries of what it means to make a modern rock album, it’s unlike anything I’ve heard in recent memory. With closer resemblances to the oddities and imaginations of somewhere between a Floyd and Animal Collective, ‘Rome’ is a sound and genre in a self contained space. Bringing it to life through guitar, sax and FX, synth bass, and drum set, this a debut album to be reckoned with, to hopelessly bewilder at, and to listen to in unabashed amazement.
Each song has an arrangement that ebbs and flows, crescendoing and receding in pointed precision. Each song is dripping with emotion, a courtesy of the plaintive lyricism and the deeply layered textural imprint that the quartet is able to seamlessly stack over one another with effortless ease. The opening intro sucks you into a void, curling your toes as the overwhelming arrangement envelops you only to, without warning, give complete way for ‘Always’ to cut through. Here, the full dexterity of each member as well as their synergistic talents, comes out in magnificence.
It’s replete with innovation, lusciously imaginative to the point of delirious intrigue for the listener. A progressive album, undoubtedly. But it’s far from what conventional progressive rock seems to be. There’s far more to it than a by the numbers progressive record. It’s limitless in ambition, and meticulous in execution. An album to take note of from a band who’s going somewhere.