[review]
More Stately Mansions, the latest release from Charlie Barnes which came out in May, is a heartfelt piece of work playing with numerous different genres and sounds.
Many of the tracks feature a loud boldness, which is best exemplified in the chorus of title track ‘More Stately Mansions’. It’s this boldness that makes some tracks seem almost grandiose compared to other’s on the album like ‘Film’ with it’s gentle piano and soft, thoughtful sound.
Overall I was impressed with the amount of control shown on the album as a whole, both vocally, and instrumentally. It’s a difficult task to capture and retain a listener’s attention from beginning to end, especially when a track is presented as one thing at the start, and ends off being something completely different at the end. However Charlie Barnes manages to master this flow, which I think is what makes the music so unique.
One of the more memorable tracks for me off the album was ‘Dresden’, which showcases the control I talked about earlier, starting off with desolate and wistful layers, it then builds into an angry, loud apocalyptic climax before quickly falling back into it’s dejected state.
If you’re looking to discover a sound a little out of the pop/rock comfort zone that offers something new and distinctive then ‘More Stately Mansions’ is definitely worth a listen.
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