Air Waves
Parting Glances
Reviewed by: Ziggy Merritt
Five years separate the release of Air Waves’ debut, Dungeon Dots, from their eagerly awaited follow-up, Parting Glances. Since then, songwriter Nicole Schneit has had ample time to collaborate and configure her latest release into something distinguished and alive. Yet as I ventured into the album I worried that the first few tracks would coalesce into something indistinguishable, a fear that was well put to rest by the end of the final track.
Parting Glances begins with the more recent single of “Horse Race”, a deceivingly simple track paired with Schneit’s distinctive low, worn vocals, the steady jangle of the guitar, and the subtle touch of a saloon-style piano. While perhaps rounded out with a bit too much in the way of repetition, those same vocals blended with vintage garage rock melodies merge together quite well. This trend continues -with the occasional, inspired sub of the the electric organ- for the following two tracks, which initially gave me some of those stated worrisome vibes that Parting Glances would quickly develop symptoms of blandness. Then came “Fantasy”, a track with the dream pop vibe fresh off of a Beach House or Lower Dens album, the latter especially appropriate given Jana Hunter’s collaborative vocals on a few of the tracks.
More than a few times, Schneit revealed a similar ability to inspire and reinvent the concepts that make her and her collaborators, including not just Jana Hunter, but JB Townshend of Crystal Stilts fame, so fresh in our minds. Notable signifiers of this arrive in the acoustic intro on “Frank” before its eventual crescendo into the familiar lo-fi stylings and “Touch of Light”’s introduction of a darker, yet more introspective second half of the album. While Schneit can occasionally verge on the repetitive, Parting Glances comes into its own as a simple if dreamy entry into the Air Waves’ catalogue.
Rating: Bad-Ass
