Heaven Bent

I love downtempo, electronic music. Don't ask why, I just do...and for good reason. The music coming out of this genre always seem to make music and its history more important. You hear sounds you don't normally hear, and many times you find uses for instrumentation that are simply down-right original. Well, ladies and gentlemen, I stopped keeping up-to-date with a lot of these bands that I like, switching to more independent rock-based music. While I find a lot of similarities between these two "genres", nearly all of them are rooted in the fact that the motives and means by which the music is made is incredibly similar. Many of the more elite (at least elite in my mind) electronic bands are able to play with your preconceived notions of music. But, perhaps even more important, I think that many good electronic bands strive very hard to use as many real instruments as possible. That is, avoiding the computer when able.

This is why I love Bent.

They have a strong emphasis on the aesthetic of their music: not too clean, but certainly easy-listening. What separates Bent from the pack is their vocals. Instrumentals can only take a band so far on an album, and Bent understands that. The vocals are really what impart the mood and most of the meaning to the songs, and often times make-or-break them.

And so, my friends, Bent has a new album, Intercept!. Chock full of groovy hooks and both haunting and cheery vocals, Bent's sound matures before the listener's ears. The track "Exercise 7" is reminiscent of "Thriller" by Michael Jackson, while "After All the Love" has got the one of the catchiest vocals I've heard in a long time. And who doesn't like a little harmonica?
But my favorite on the album is "The Handbrake" which is a Belle-and-Sebastian-like groovy ditty that comes off as a playful song that retains a certain depth. Definitely check it out.

Listen to "The Handbrake" (highly recommended)
Listen to "After All the Love" (also sweet)