Chino Moreno from the Deftones has taken his love for the Cure, My Bloody Valentine, ambient and his own bands’ brand of emotive power rock and created a heartbreaking piece of electro-rock built on the slow sway and the torn heart. They have a floating, ethereal, jazz-like hard rock. Honestly, this is one of the most interesting releases I have listened to in a long time. The beautifully crafted soundscapes compliment the slightly rough, yet airy vocals from Chino.
The disc opens with “Ataraxia”. The despondent sounding Moreno’s voice is led by an interesting sample track, which is accompanied by a short piano interlude. It brings itself right along creating a feeling of traveling. It is like zoning out and just watching a city pass you by as you drive through it at night. The clean guitar punctuates the space between the vocals, but everything just flows together.
First single ‘Ever (Foreign Flag)” lives, breathes, and sweats the ache of a lover on the way out (I am assuming because lyrically it travels beyond of comprehension), and maybe that’s the beauty of Team Sleep, it leaves very little to decipher from the words, so you must find meaning in the haunting groove or the electronic elegance. That being said a track “Princeton Review” blends a pop sensibility against the rough and ready Deftones-like “Blvd Nights”, both hard chargers that work each side of the spectrum. This is more of a rock song than the rest of this release. Even though it grinds along like many of the Deftones songs, it still has an overwhelming feeling of airiness that permeates the entire disc.
This record is too far removed from a majority of what the Deftones have done on White Pony and the self-titled release, mixing their vengeful rock against a wall of poetry and beautiful moments. The shining moments of a track like ‘Minerva” would work side by side with “Our Ride To The Rectory”, or the utter bone crushing, heart stopping “Anniversary Of An Uninteresting Event” nuzzling up against “Elizabeth”, a slow bender that renders the listener motionless; love hurts baby.
The eighth offering is “Tomb of Leigia”. It is a sorrowful song that feels like it is mourning for some loss. The guest vocalists are perfect for the track, making it feel distant and despondent. The tones used in the track have small amount of dissonance used like harmony, which only adds to the sad atmosphere that is laid down. This is by far one of my favorite songs.
Big plus for doing something as spacey as anything Catherine Wheel or Slowdive has ever done and then naming it “King Diamond”. The tone of the track is confrontational and it feels like Chino is starting an argument with some unknown female during the chorus, but like much of the rest of this release, the track is flowing and ambient.
“11/11” closes out this disc. It is very representative of the sound for this entire CD. You feel like you are drifting along down a lazy river or just relaxing in the middle of a huge field alone.
This first installment from Team Sleep, makes me feel that their name was definitely chosen purposefully. The entire CD is incredibly relaxing and just wanders along to completion. With the minor exceptions of “Blvd. Knights” and “King Diamond” this whole album has a loose trippy progression to it. The minor differences in the individual songs are enough to make it an interesting listen. If you are looking for another Deftones album with this, you are extraordinarily off base. This record rest nicely next to Massive Attack’s Mezzanine and no one would blink an eye, and maybe settled in with The Cure’s Pornography. The mix of the danceable bits along with the suffocating heaviness would leave you beaten and bloody blue. This is an entrancing, beautifully written journey.
Brilliant!
Led
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