Revolver
Music For A While
Revolver hails from France and hits the ear drum like an infectious hybrid of Beirut and the Beatles. The classically-trained trio of Ambroise Willaume, Christophe Musset, and Jérémie Arcache formed Revolver in 2006 and built a buzz through small gigs around Paris. EMI saw which way the wind was blowing and put out their debut EP Pop De Chambre in 2007. The momentum established with that critically-acclaimed record reaches its full potential on Music For A While, courtesy a fusion of styles old and new.
“Get Around Town,” the first song the band wrote, seems pulled right from the heart of the 60s while “Birds in Dm” feels like a modern indie rock composition. The band gives equal credence to Renaissance chamber pop and the work of Elliott Smith, resulting in a vivid orchestral alchemy. Layered vocal harmonies on tracks such as “A Song She Wrote” are superbly catchy and give the album a solid foundation to build from. Three voices meander in the seams of a sparse and exacting backdrop of guitar, piano, and cello.
What Revolver has achieved with their debut full-length is all the more impressive when one considers they are writing songs outside of their foreign tongue. While the lyrics are occasionally pedestrian and some songs sound a bit alike, Revolver’s penchant for melody, quality song structure, and stellar harmonization makes Music For A While a Baroque indie-pop gem.
Song you will remember in five years: “Get Around Town”
I know what you mean. I just heard their song Balulalow yesterday. It won’t get out of my head. I spent an hour looking for it. I’ll definitely remember it when I die. There are 2 kinds of singers in the world. The showy ones the are in your head for as long their singing, or the ones that send a message that will be carried with you forever.