Sunday, July 30, 2017

Quantum Split - America (2017)




Written by Joshua Stryde, posted by blog admin

Quantum Split is based out of the New York City/Boston area and formed around Berklee College of Music student and vocalist Soleil Laurent. Her individualistic lyrics, unique vocal talents, and charismatic presentation will certainly draw in an ample amount of listeners, but her band mates are a significant reason the band has already logged appearances at the 6th Annual Kigaliup Music Festival in Rwanda and at important New York City venues like the Gramercy Theatre and Irving Plaza. Their fusion of rock and soul includes strands of other musical influences – they exhibit a penchant for classic hard rock muscle, funkier passages, and even a smattering of blues primarily manifested through Laurent’s voice and some of the flash in Adrian Read’s guitar work, They bring a rare mix to the table and it helps set them apart from other modern rock acts – the musical daring coupled with unbridled passion and more than a little technical expertise.

The title track of the release, “America”, is a song embracing this moment in our national history. Laurent has anger to burn in the lyrics, for sure, but this song isn’t just some rant against forces seeking to undo or destroy the social progress made in the last half century. There’s an ample amount of intelligence behind the lyrics and Laurent varies her approach enough to give the vocal interpretation added depth. Adrian Read’s lead guitar takes the same varied approach. There’s an abundance of melody and rugged, hard-charging rock guitar certain to bowl over listeners. There’s an understated funky edge to some parts of the song that insinuates itself in the audience’s consciousness and it gives it a lightly percolating feel that sweetens its rough edges.

“Runaway” doesn’t pack quite the same punch as the title song, but has an arguably better build and more atmospherics than the earlier song. The interplay between Laurent’s vocals and Read’s guitar work is very noteworthy, but they benefit enormously from great rhythm section support from bassist Ivan Hardy and drummer Anthony Anderson. Laurent’s emotional vocal has the same power heard on the earlier track but she gets even deeper into the personal and heartfelt with this song than the more impersonal first one. Regardless of their individual slants, the two tracks on this release have incredible flexibility and raw force quite unlike any other new rock act working today. America has enormous ambition and manages to cover a lot of bases over the course of two songs. The band, likewise, avoids even a hint of self indulgence and gets their musical goals over without ever noticeably straining themselves. Quantum Split is an act sure to be around for some time to come and they’ve gotten off to a rousing start with this recording.   

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