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Written by Craig Bowles, posted by
blog admin
Astronomique’s Sharp Divide begins
well with the confident stride fueling “Forefathers” and they come across with
an authoritative edge one doesn’t often hear from similarly themed outfits.
Bassist Preston Saari and drummer Mitch Billings lay down an impressive groove,
but it’s guitarist Sean Hogan and synthesizer player/vocalist Logan Andra
Fongemie who deserves fulsome plaudits for their kinetic, focused contributions
to the song. Sharp Divide is consistent in many respects, but the hallmark
consistency of the collection rests with how it treats Fongemie’s voice – echo effects
give a sort of haunted quality to her otherwise ethereal vocal talents and
Hogan’s often chiming guitar lines act as a memorable counterpoint. “Losing Our
Control” raises the bar thanks to its seamless mix of a number of elements and,
despite its mid-tempo pace; we hear every bit of the same confidence bubbling
to the surface of the mix that defined the earlier tune.
The Minneapolis band goes one better
with the album’s title song. These songs are, customarily, a key track on any
release, presumably encapsulating the strongest musical and lyrical themes of
the release, and “Sharp Divide” isn’t any disappointment. Saari and Billings
are, once again, key to bringing the song off, but Hogan’s guitar playing has
added edge with this performance that sets it apart from the surrounding tunes.
“Unspoken” highlights Fongemie’s keyboard playing without ever making her the
sole focus and, when the full band launches into the song, Astronomique once
again successfully integrate her playing into the larger whole of the
arrangement. “Bleed Me: is another of the album’s top shelf tracks and, despite
the intensity of its imagery and how emphatically Fongemie conveys the writing,
there’s a good balance between the darker mood struck by the lyrics and the
entertaining musical arrangement.
“Hardly Deliberate” has a different
percussive template than we’re accustomed to hearing from Astronomique while
still adhering to business as usual in other respects. Billings’ drumming,
however, keys everything and we can hear how it inspires the remaining band
members to reach even higher. There’s a slightly chaotic, dissonant edge to the
song without ever removing it too far from the band’s style. The last number on
Sharp Divide, “Heading Nowhere”, brings the release to a downcast ending, but
their talented for sweetening otherwise despairing musical messages remains
intact with this final number and mitigates any darkness creeping in around the
edges. Astronomique’s Sharp Divide swiftly establishes the four piece as one of
the most creative and idiosyncratic acts working in popular music today and
this ten song collection will surely propel them to a new level of renown.
