Talk about a pleasant blast from the past! This album could hold its own on a shelf next to my mom’s 80s pop records. Singer Sarah Guild has a great vocal range and she sure knows how to use it. Listening to Invisible Embraces really almost sounds like I’m listening to a modern, more upbeat Blondie album. The energy is great, I think it could easily be thrown on at a dance club or be sung on a road trip with friends just as easily. The main thing that makes this album so enjoyable is that while there are obvious throwbacks to the 70s/80s new wave explosion, it is not a complete rip off and manages to blend 80s influences with a modern dancey sound and a burst of ingenuity.
A side note is the album art. It’s very 80s and I believe that if I were browsing CDs in a store (come on kids, you remember cd stores, don’t you? The buildings that you actually had to walk into when you had to wait for a cd to be officially released?) it would catch my eye. The bright blues, yellows, and pinks make it a really easy thing to spot.
Back to the music: bottom line, it’s fun, it’s catchy, it’s unique in today’s music world, and it’s very well done.
Initial Thoughts: I really expected this album to be a total wanna-be 80s record that had absolutely no originality or real thought put into it. I was pleasantly surprised by what the album actually was, though. While it is something I have heard before it’s not overdone and it’s beautifully pulled off.
Now: I’m really glad that this album landed on my desk because since I was born in the last eleven days of 1990, I obviously didn’t get to experience any part of the 80s—the good or the bad. I was raised on grunge and alternative rock, so for me, this is a breath of fresh air even though people who listen to the good dance music of the past, they may prefer that.
Best Track: “I’m Losing”. The vocal melody of the chorus is really fun to sing along to and it has lyrics that are easy to relate to. The synthesizer is really upbeat and makes it a great song to dance to.
Drops November 17th!
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