Reviews

Aloha

Light Works

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Review Date: 2008-04-05

The new, ‘sort of’ EP by Aloha, called Light Works, comes across as a beautiful, near monumental force, with a lot of strength, and specifically honesty, to its sounds. I feel like I’d be doing a real detriment to the music by loading this review up with some lame anecdotes that won’t let the music speak for itself. 

On a whole, Light Works boasts a very rich and textural sound. It is all unified in the dream-like calm and mountain lake-clarity of the compositions. There isn’t a single moment in the EPs twenty eight minutes that comes across as harsh or abrasive. The album’s cover, which depicts a ghostly tree visage, is a perfect compliment to the accompanying music’s ethereal approach. 

Singer Tony Cavallario’s voice sounds as though it’s on the very peak of wavering at times, but he maintains the cool, calm and collected flow throughout all of the songs. He approaches the lyrics in a very airy tone that gives the album much of its floating tones. Compared to previous works, these songs seem like more stripped-down, smoother and natural sounds, but this is no way impedes on the expansive feelings of the album. Visually, the album is probably most like a giant Cumulonimbus cloud gilded by the rays of a low laying sun.
 

The closets comparison that I could draw would be to the now-defunct Toronto band Sea Snakes. Though Sea Snakes, for the most part, lacked the lush layers that are present in Light Works, the sentiment and experience is very much the same. 

This is an album probably best suited for the closing minutes before a summer storm (yeah, this reference again!), where the air grows dim and adopts that certain yellow hue, the trees are void of animal movements and the smell of the oncoming rain over powers any big city or back country smell normally present. Time well with thunder/lightning intervals, bring your chair under the awning, mix with high-quality headphones, and perhaps add a drink to taste and enjoy the Light Works.

Score: 7.5

- Michael Bulko