Landing's debut EP, Centrefuge, achieved an
airy serenity that was nearly perfect. With Circuit,
Landing have branched out and explored a bit of the
heavier, more brooding elements-–but with similar
success.
Don't get me wrong the Centrefuge-like airiness is
still present in songs like "Convergence" (which they
have been playing live for the past few years) and
"Summer Song" (which is what Fuxa would sound like if
they were as good as Landing). The best parts of the
album for me, however, are the heavier songs like
"Across the Sky", "A Song," and "Coming Down." "Across
the Sky" in particular, which is built on Dick
Baldwin's beautifully sad bassline , is one of
their very best songs. The bassline emerges from the
swells of the keyboard and slowly develops as
instruments are added–-sparse drums, additional
keyboards, vocals, and, of course, Aaron Snow's
trademark guitar work.
Another strength of the album
is in the vocals. On Centrefuge the vocals were so
buried that they were nearly impossible to hear. With
Circuit, the vocals are in audible range and we
discover that Aaron has a remarkably warm voice, and
Adrienne's voice has a sweetness that is equally
remarkable. This increased attention to
the vocals makes the pop aspect of Landing's drone-pop
sound that much more prominent.
The only weakness of the album for me is in the fact
that the songs are of different vintage. The album
is Landing's first full length and stands as sort of
a "Best of" compilation of all the songs they recorded
in their career. As a result, some of the songs are
years old, and some of them are much newer. People less
familiar with the band may not notice, but having known
these songs in the different phases of Landing,
the feel of the album is a slight bit uneven--the quality
is always high but the songs do not blend together as naturally
as they could.
This is only a minor flaw though; on their own, the songs
of Circuit are excellent. I highly recommend the album and
have only given it
a less than perfect score because I have heard their
even newer work and realize that they can actually get
even better.
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