Low Roar - Low Roar
In busy times breaks to think about life perform wonders. This debut album by Low Roar, also known as Ryan Karazija, will make your worries fade away for a few minutes.
Not only the music, but as well the life-story of the song writer Ryan Karazija is remarkable. Actually Ryan is from San Francisco, where he's been singer in the band Audrye Sessions, until he moved to Reykjavik, Iceland.
His newest project Low Roar seems to fit him a lot better, the music sounds to be magically inspired by the Icelandic nature, dreaming and music.
Naturally, the topics of his songs have changed, on the one hand he sings about weakness, then again about friends and love.
This album was released in 2011, the next album should be up for sale in July 2014.
Track list
1. Give Up
2. Just A Habit
3. Nobody Else
4. Patience
5. Low Roar
6. Friends Make Garbage (Good Friends Take It Out)
7. The Painter
8. Help Me
9. Rolling Over
10. Puzzle
11. Because We Have To
12. Tonight, Tonight, Tonight
I won't wake a wealthy man someday, 'cause the sun, don't follow me... these are the opening words in the song
Give Up, he obviously talks about his own experience in this album.
Very Icelandic guitar strumming is combined with soft vocals in this track. The second song,
Just a Habit is melancholic, with its repetitive guitar pattern, even the lyrics sound desperate.
A song about guilt and weakness is
Nobody Else, it partly gives you the feeling the singer is singing about hopeless situation. The electronic rhythm reminds me on Ólafur Arnalds.
One of my favorite songs is
Patience. It's performed in a fascinating way.
Get out of my mind - this might be the main thought, the realization of the unbearable lack of power of a single human being.
Almost sacral sounds the following track
Low Roar, in comparison to the next song
Friends Make Garbage (Good Friends Take It Out). This one has a folk-ambient atmosphere, slightly uplifting.
The lyrics are honestly beautiful, sincere and deep.
Don't follow roads paved in gold, they will only let you down. What's the fun when you can't share what you've found? Years to build, in a second it's brought down.
The Painter reminds me on the impressionism. Not only because of the lyrics, the music itself sounds veiled and blurry. The topic is rational vs. emotional, artist vs. standard.
The eight track,
Help Me, doesn't sound like the singer would whine, even the lyrics are composed in that way. This song has an incredible unique sound.
Rolling Over is about realizing how different people can be.
I'm turning over inside my grave, I'm waiting for you to be late. I wait, I wait...
Dramatic might be the right word to describe the song
Puzzle. The electronic background and the continuous grueling beat with the dark vocals create a scary atmosphere.
The saddest song of this album is
Because We Have To. The lyrics let you guess it must be about an apocalypse, the final end.
Tonight, Tonight, Tonight is the concluding song, approximately it's about ending a relationship:
Day spent with not a word to say - Routine, red lie. So jump, we'll sit and burn a lie.
I truly fall for music by Icelandic artists: Ólafur Arnalds, Sigur Rós (Jónsi), Sóley, múm and Ásgeir.
Low Roar does a good job to fit in that group: The unique sound, the use of traditional and electronic instruments, floating voices and deep lyrics...
All in all, this is an amazing album, I hope Low Roar keeps up the good work. I'm very excited for the new one and will proceed to listen to the debut album in the meantime!