Engineers: Three Fact Fader
Engineers: Three Fact Fader
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Tuesday, 30, Jun 2009 10:01
Artwerk Music, out July 6th.
In a nutshell...
Airy, thought-provoking, lush, nu-gaze.
What's it all about?
This is Engineers' second album consisting of 13 tracks. It was produced by the band as well as Ken Thomas who has worked with Sigur Ros and M83, and this certainly shows. The album was initially in danger of not being released at all after their record company restructured itself, leaving the album suspended. But after much public support the band got back to releasing the album.
Who's it by?
Engineers are a British band from Manchester composed of Simon Phipps on vocals and guitars, Mark Peters on vocals, guitar and bass, Dan MacBean on guitars and keyboard and Andrew Sweeney on drums. The dreamy bed rockers that formed in 2003 emerged with their debut EP Folly (2004) and self-titled album (2005) with standout single Forgiveness and the cover of Tim Hardin's If I were a carpenter.
As an example...
"People are the saver/Love just makes you sane/See the same behaviour/Taking shape again/Don't know how you braved it/No-one you can blame/We both have the answer/Hang your head in shame." - Hang Your Head
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
Although the album is musically and technically a magnificent piece of work by, there are several other very talented bands that also identify themselves with the newly coined genre 'nu-gaze', referring to the recent resurgence of shoe-gaze music. This is not 'popular' music, but something the more informed music critics should appreciate, as well as their fans.
What the others say
"... But, make no mistake, this is big, epic, widescreen music, albeit wonderfully understated. Tracks such as Said And Done sound like Doves in their more ethereal, less anthemic moments and when there are smatterings of electronica (Waved On) they are as much Air as My Bloody Valentine. But Engineers are never anything less than beautiful. Not so much shoegazing as skyscraping." - Nathaniel Cramp, NME
"As an album, the overall impact of Three Fact Fader, given the concentration required to fully understand its purpose/meaning and to appreciate the musical nooks and crannies, renders this to be a domain for die-hards and purists." - Dave Adair, Glasswerk, UK
So is it any good?
The tracks on this album are beautifully crafted from start to finish. Engineers breeze from song to song almost effortlessly, like, well... engineers. The rhythmic side to this album has been much further developed since their self-titled debut. The album accelerates and decelerates in all the right places, with delicate lyrics and sounds in the beginning, peaking around track ten and 11, and then slowing to the bounding beat of What Pushed Us together. Sometimes I Realise and Hang Your Head are other definite standouts for the album.
If you close your eyes whilst listening to this album you are taken away, transported to another world. Only musicians who appreciate the power and movement and sound can create such an environment for the listener. Of course one cannot help but think this kind of music would be only more appreciated and felt under the influence of some mind-altering substance. Being only their second album, their well developed and exquisite sound shows us that there is much more to come.
9/10
Gemma Alver