I love finding new albums to listen to as I try and fall asleep. Of course Bon Iver and Bright Eyes are my constants, but I wanted to try some more recent or obscure artists. That's when I came across the band flatsound. Their album "sleep" (haha, how appropriate) is absolutely gorgeous. He's a lofi bedroom musician and that's fascinating to me. He does it all in such a raw way that it's pure and wonderful.
The opening track, "Sleep", is beautiful. It's so simple and perfect; the line "I thought I was the best part of your life" is so deep and sung with such emotion. The way that it builds up and breaks down makes you pay attention to every layer. The guitar playing is stunning, and his voice reminds me a lot of Oberst. This tune is so perfect and once I heard it, I knew I'd enjoy the rest of the album.
"If You Love Me, Come Clean" is so Oberst-esque that it makes me want them to collab or tour together. It literally reminds me so much of him, it's insane. He's a clear influence and I feel like any casual Conor fan would absolutely mistake the two. The dual vocals and guitar are bone-chilling. "Feeling lost in towns that were my home. And if everything was easier before, then we'll go back to who we were." The way it's vocalised made me have to replay it over and over again. …flatsound, are you sure that Conor didn't sing this tune? I LOVE it.
The two back-to-back tunes "You Know How To Make A Boy Feel Warm" and "You Know How To Make A Man Feel Useless" are a flawless parallel. Starting off the pair with a static-y sound and falling into a deep and warm-sounding stark symphony is a great transition. The mixture of sounds and the composition makes you barely notice the way it changes to the next track until you realise it's actually much darker. It feels angry. Though both of the songs have no vocals, you can absolutely tell the emotion. "…Boy Feel Warm" is calming and soothing and makes you feel wholesome, "…Man Feel Useless" is unsettling and unpredictable and almost creepy. This switch that was hit was so well thought out and I can't stop listening to the two songs back to back.
The bonus track "Kurtis, Hunter, Hemingway" is the best out of all the bonus tunes. The sound of rain and water mixed with his voice and the guitar is everything I could ever want out of this musician. He absolutely nailed this song. It almost made me cry when I first heard it; it's like he can capture the feelings of anyone. Be it his lyrics, musicianship, or ability to compose things that touch your heart, he's an absolute genius. "Please don't fix me if I don't need fixing" is the best line of the entire album. It is phenomenal.
flatsound is the greatest artist I've heard in a very, very long time.