The Fresh and Onlys
House of Spirits
Reviewed by: Lara Supan
This album makes a lot more sense once you know that it’s a concept album based on lead singer Tim Cohen’s stay at an isolated horse ranch and the dreams he had while staying there. Otherwise, this collection of songs is very difficult to understand.
House of Spirits starts with a solo organ and ends with a cacophony of guitar feedback. Everything in between is a blur, including the drum machine ballads, spaghetti western guitar and atmospheric synth pads. The overly reverbed vocals and repetitive and simplistic lyrics do have a dreamlike effect, however this leads the listener to forgot they’re listening to music for long stints of time. The fourth track, “Animal of One”, starts out with a promising, classic spaghetti western guitar lick and echoed vocals, however because of that echo, the only distinguishable lyrics in the piece are “the animal of one will always survive”, and it’s repeated a great deal.
The concept of House of Spirits is commendable, and it does honestly lend itself to the atmospheric, ethereal landscape The Fresh and Onlys were trying to portray. The issue with atmospheric, ethereal landscape material is that it makes most people zone out and want to take a nap. Unfortunately, I was no exception to that rule.
Rating: 
