All We Are Album Review

Released on the 3rd of February 2015

I had reached a point of getting slightly tired when discovering new and upcoming indie bands, they all started to blur into one another, and the music was just getting repetitive. So when I clicked on All We Are's self titled album (download here) on Spotify's new releases, I didn't expect much and was mostly intrigued by the interesting album artwork.

However, after hearing 'Intro' flow into the bassy and slightly psychedelic sound of the track 'Ebb/Flow', I was smiling from ear to ear. The need for stumbling upon a fresh album to have on repeat on my iPod has been a long time coming, so it's almost as if this album knew and came and found me.

The trio, made up of Richard O'Flynn (drums), Guro Gikling (bass), and Luis Santos (guitar), all met at Liverpool University where they were studying music. The fact that they all come from various parts of the world (Brazil, Ireland and Norway) explains why their music incorporates so many different genres, sounds and moods. Comparing tracks like 'Feel Safe' to 'Go', the album goes on a noticeable journey, as 'Feel Safe' has funky guitar riffs, an anthem chorus and melodies making it similar to 70s disco songs. Whereas 'Go' has a slow, atmospheric and damn right smooth guitar and 3 part vocal fusion, reminding me of London Grammer but better. It builds up to an almighty layering of sounds and emotion which I loved, and the three part vocal makes it unique as they are all leads.

Bassist Guru Gikling describes their sound as "psychedelic boogie", and I couldn't have thought of a better way of putting it. Their strong influences from old Soul and Funk music are clear in the album, Gikling also said there's an "underlying groove and atmosphere that ties it all together", but they're still in keeping with modern music and put a refreshing twist on the indie genre.

2015 is certainly looking like an exciting year for All We Are as their summer is booked up with festival gigs and tours across the UK and Europe, you can buy tickets here.

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Hannah Jolley