BoomSnake - Give And Take

 It's not often that a new artist turns up and squeezes every ounce of breath out of you, leaving you spellbound and speechless as to why or who or what just happened.

From the very first plucking on the album's introductory track Busy, it's immediately discernible that this isn't going to be an ordinary listening process. The music immediately settles whomever happens to be listening; the beautiful vocals astound from the very start. "Busy, busy, busy like the bee. You need a hobby" croons the gentle, melancholic voice over a wonderfully soothing beat. "I sleep better when i dream, i sleep better when". It's so soft and organic and yet it holds an odd, ghostly form to it that creeps in through the falsetto vocals and tumbling percussion. The song seems less of a highlight and more of an instant classic.

Some may feel that the record sits relatively near the musical territory of Bon Iver and similar ilk but it doesn't hold the same folk sensibilities as those type of records. Sure it utilises mostly acoustic instruments and yes, even the voice plays with pitching in the same manner that Mr. Justin Vernon does but there's something entirely different going on here, something less dramatically poignant and more dreamy and melodic.

The duo that make up BoomSnake appear adept at constructing the simplest of rhythms and making them ridiculously effective. It's songs such Sticks Stones And Animal Bones which enforce such claims with flawless integrity. Rhythmic strums and and the softest of hand-claps keep the vocals on a beautifully simplistic path where they skip, hop and squeal in the most wonderful of ways, never registering as overblown and never coming off as trying too hard. Ethereal hums and nonsensical, gentle singing surrounds solemn lyrics. "And the sticks and stones you've thrown and the shaking of my bones, maybe i should go..". Again, just calling this song a highlight does it no justice whatsoever.

My Pretend Friends is an instrumental, rewinding, undulating track that flawlessly transitions into another simple yet astonishingly effective song by the name of Honey. We could attempt at describing just how beautiful the track is but instead, just take this lyric as an example. "I'm gonna love you so much, you won't have to be loved by anybody else". Put that line to some of the most serene, gentle, emotive guitar playing you've heard in a fair while and you have another track that defies the label of 'highlight'.

What we're basically trying to say with all of this highlight malarkey is that there really is not one track on here which could be considered 'filler' or unimpressive. Track after successive track, the album refuses to dive below the bar set at the beginning (which is basically, [gesturing towards nearby mountain] around yay high) and continuously impresses with every single moment in which the CD is spinning.

Whether it's In Da Grounds catchy, brilliantly paced rhythm that finally takes your heart or the fantastically structured album closer Excuses (Ghost Toast) which holds some of the greatest yet most simplistic instrumentation we've heard in some while; we're pretty sure you're going to love this record.

With 2009 already crammed full of eights and nines out of ten, it's kind of hard to attempt at placing this in the same numerical rating as all the rest. Wintersleeps record was astounding on every level ( Check that review out HERE if you so wish) and yet it still wasn't a ten in this reviewers eyes (nothing is yet) so please bear in mind that although this record is getting a nine it's also so much more than just that representative number, so much deeper than a simple denotation. It's so emotionally attaching and easily absorbable that it becomes part of you when it's on and a missing part when it's off. We'll shut-up now, but seriously, just go and get it.