It’s not every day that something comes along that surprises us. We are not talking ‘surprise’ in that artificial birthday cake sort of way, but ‘surprise’ in that genuinely unexpected way that steals your breath for just a moment while you take stock of what you’re witnessing.
What we are witnessing is the emergence of a wholly unique, fresh approach to something tried and true in an industry where ‘fresh’ ideas can often times end up as nothing more than stagnant and disappointing representations of smothered artistry.
Usher in Freedom of Death, a Toronto-based duo who’s ‘sound is rooted in everything – acoustic folk, electronica, traditional rock, hip-hop rhythms, yet always anchored by their lyrics’. They are a huge, and very pleasant surprise.
Fernandez and Sway, two individuals who have already made their incredible marks on the music industry, have come together to bring us their vision of complete and total artistic freedom, supplied by their awesome talent and unwillingness to compromise.
The critical masses have already heaped loads of praise on the two following their CMJ 2010 performances last October, and a recently released self-titled EP featuring “This Crowded Room” (an upcoming single off their debut album EGO, due out this fall) and a stunning cover of NAS and Lauryn Hills’ “Rule The World”.
DOWNLOAD: “Rule The World (NAS Cover)” by Freedom or Death
EGO will be released on the band’s own imprint Liars & Thieves / Arts & Crafts Distribution. It’s a seven-track album in physical and digital format including a hidden track not included on the hand made advances.
What they produce is like out of a dream — with an understanding of how blending the soft melody of indie rock guitar strums, aching vocals, and the gentle pulsing of electronic synths with subtle afro-beat rhythms and the break down and build up of lyrics that both create and destroy can lead to one of the most emotionally satisfying listening experiences we defy anyone to describe having with new music in a long time.
The video for “This Crowded Room” (directed & shot by Grandson & Son) is abstract, intimate and breathtakingly beautiful. It’s almost like waking up on a misty morning in the darkened quiet of some isolated place while Sway’s vocals permeate the fog with sunlight as a nudging bird song; serving as a kind of natural alarm designed to wake you up to what you’ve been missing out on. It can feel like the other side of a dreamscape, peppered with compelling imagery and a dazzlingly intense and compelling performance by Sway. We must have watched it like a hundred times.
WATCH: Freedom or Death’s “This Crowded Room” directed by Grandson & Son
[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/23670978[/vimeo]
We are awake (ushered back from the dead almost), listening, and brimming with barely contained anticipation for Freedom or Death’s debut album EGO. In the meantime, you can purchase their EP on iTunes now.
"About as professional as a troupe of monkeys trying to play instruments." Writer. Editor. Music enthusiast. (kAY-rock)
