Dead Rituals
II

Nostalgia for the times that were. A mantra for all those daily rituals we took for granted, now vanished, if not in the minds of those who maybe still manage to remember them.

Pencils and cassettes don’t have much in common if you belong to the streaming generation. You face a dead routine, vanished over time, but a symbol of a reality that seems light years away, even if it’s not that distant. These Dead Rituals from “Broken Memories” look at this very recent past, yet so far away: they almost seem like a more restless version of the Cure from “Disintegration” - but it’s not just a nostalgic operation.

The sound changes direction halfway through the piece, with a female voice, and a contemplative instrumental coda that fades slowly, in stark contrast with the primitive drums of the introduction. One of the highlights of this EP is precisely the combination of the old and the new: it’s not about revival, but about contextualizing various influences, turning them into something more personal.

There’s a more contemporary aesthetic in the second piece “Slow Down,” which dares to play with synths, drum machines, and odd tempos. The contrast between hyperactive percussion and scattered melodic instruments creates a dreamlike effect, leaving space for the group’s more cinematic sound aspirations. There’s also room for the acoustic guitar on “When The Lights Are Out,” which reminds me of figures like Elliott Smith, and again the Cure, especially regarding the melodic lines and atmospheric sounds that permeate the piece. For only having three songs, this EP has very different inclinations, if not even undecided on which direction to take.

This can be both the strength and the weakness of this little disc, which nevertheless manages to give consistency to all these different sounds thanks to good production.