Calculating and sterile, Smoke Fairies’ eponymous new album opens with an old-school pop song wrapped in a Feist guise, called “We’ve Seen Birds.” A solid song to be sure, though perhaps a bit misleading, as none of the songs afterward reach its delirious heights and joy.
Reviews: Smoke Fairies – Self-Titled
National Music Reviews
Smoke Fairies
Self-Titled
Full Time Hobby
Street: 04.14
Smoke Fairies = St. Vincent + Jack White
Calculating and sterile, Smoke Fairies’ eponymous new album opens with an old-school pop song wrapped in a Feist guise, called “We’ve Seen Birds.” A solid song to be sure, though perhaps a bit misleading, as none of the songs afterward reach its delirious heights and joy. The rest of the album is a morose letdown. “Hope is Religion” is an egregiously simplistic song that sounds so dated. It would be a good fit on the first Portishead album, but is jarring and out of place here. In fact, the whole album is like that—full of songs that sound more like experiments or a collection of singles from a genre-hopping artist like Beck, just without the restraint. –Taylor Hale
Self-Titled
Full Time Hobby
Street: 04.14
Smoke Fairies = St. Vincent + Jack White
Calculating and sterile, Smoke Fairies’ eponymous new album opens with an old-school pop song wrapped in a Feist guise, called “We’ve Seen Birds.” A solid song to be sure, though perhaps a bit misleading, as none of the songs afterward reach its delirious heights and joy. The rest of the album is a morose letdown. “Hope is Religion” is an egregiously simplistic song that sounds so dated. It would be a good fit on the first Portishead album, but is jarring and out of place here. In fact, the whole album is like that—full of songs that sound more like experiments or a collection of singles from a genre-hopping artist like Beck, just without the restraint. –Taylor Hale
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