Leaves

Breath (Dreamworks)
by Tim Den

Leaves sound a helluva lot more British than Icelandic, a curious fact given that copying fellow coutrymen Sigur Rós would’ve been a lot more interesting than the pseudo-Coldplay at work here. Not that Breathe is a useless melodic exercise, tracks like “Catch” and “Silence” are peppered with enough Starsailor/The Verve/The London Suede to deserve an MTV clip, but the uncanny facelessness of the clichés often render impressions shallow and unaffected.

The simple/brainless lyrics (“hey, since this album is called Breathe, let’s use the word ‘breathe’ every time I fumble for a verb!”), the repetitive/single-note guitar melodies, the laid-back beat… with so much form ape-ing, is there even time to pay attention to the songs? Or maybe the songs are nothing but the form? If you just can’t get enough of that overcast pop sound, here’s one more contender.
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