13. You'll Never Get To Heaven - Images
Genre: Dream Pop, Ambient Pop, Shoegaze
Sounds Like: Julee Cruise, School Of Seven Bells, late 80's Cocteau Twins
This dynamic duo out of Ontario are the stuff that dreams are made of, no pun intended. I'd pit them somewhere between the classic rosters of 4AD and the better New Age sounds coming out of Windham Hill. Or to put it another way, this is a sound borne out of the unlikely pairing of the former label's most beautiful explorations (Cocteau Twins coming to mind particularly) and the most tranquil ideas of composers like Steve Roach or maybe Tim Story from the latter label.
That's not to say these ideas are always stirred up and made inseparable. On cuts such as the title track or the pulsating 'Beyond The Clouds', you get prominent bass and a dreamy, almost chillwave undercurrent that fits the calmest corners of the indie pop spectrum. Some are purely ambient spectacles, such as the sinuous 'Shadow Garden' or closer 'Rain Copy'. Beautiful in their own way, but their vaguely New Age vibe requires the right mood.
For lack of a good cheesy analogy, sometimes I think music can be like going to the ocean at the wrong time of year. If you are there to surf, you won't appreciate the beauty of the sea when the waves are barely moving. You want to ride a big wave and feel some energy, but sometimes you just gotta chill when the opportunity comes along to do so. And in the case of this fine album, 39 minutes of calm might just be what the doctor ordered at the end of a tough day.