Broken Bells

Rock · 2010 · 10 tracks · 37m

Broken Bells

A seamless blend of James Mercer's melodic melancholy and Danger Mouse's hip-hop-inflected retro-futurism. Polished, nocturnal, and deeply cinematic.

It's like The Shins went to space and brought back a drum machine and a trunk full of vintage synths.

A sophisticated, nocturnal meditation on isolation and movement, wrapped in warm analog textures.

Broken Bells · vs · Broken Bells

Melancholic+1.0σ

Melancholic saturates this record a touch more than the artist's norm.

Tracklist · 10 Tracks · 37m

01

The High Road

3:52

02

Vaporize

3:30

03

Your Head Is on Fire

3:04

04

The Ghost Inside

3:19

05

Sailing to Nowhere

3:46

06

Trap Doors

3:19

07

Citizen

4:29

08

October

3:40

09

Mongrel Heart

4:24

10

The Mall & Misery

4:07

Moments Worth Waiting For

The way the dry, thumping drum break enters on The High Road, grounding the ethereal synth wash.

The sudden, bright burst of mariachi-style trumpets that cuts through the moody atmosphere of Mongrel Heart.

The layered, multi-tracked vocal harmonies on Your Head Is on Fire that evoke a haunted 1960s pop session.

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Reviews

BBC Music

contactmusic.com

ameliasmagazine.com

Drowned in Sound

AllMusic

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