And So I Watch You From Afar - The letters EP

After having released one of the best post-rock albums of 2009, Irish instrumental band And So I Watch You From Afar decided to start off the new year with another release, 'The letters EP'. Four new tracks to compete with the album ones, four new tracks to blow your mind again.

And So I Watch You From Afar are unique. The Belfast four-piece is the most powerful post-rock band around today. And when I say powerful, I mean powerful. Not emotionally powerful like many of their peers, no, energically powerful. Their post-rock flirts with math-rock. Once again, those four songs have a headbanging potential like you wouldn't find in any of your usual post-rock bands. Opener 'S is for salamander' is being aired on the British radio. An instrumental song on the radio! If that's not meaning something... It's a glorious track made of a complex composition and orgasmic parts, going back and forth between fury and respite with a shining beauty. Every little thing is adding its touch to form a phenomenal song, from the heavy bass to the subtle riffs, from the drumsticks craziness to the lonely handclap. Possibly one of their best yet and that says a lot. 'D is for Django the bastard' is just as magic, its subtle chords slowly welcoming a storm of riffs cut out by surprising yet suitable African-like and jazzy breaks. The bass progression is incredibly great, giving a rare fierce feeling to the song. 'K is for killing spree (An ode to)' isn't less savage but is more diverse, full of crescendos and subtleties. Only 'B is for b-side' disappoints (matching its name?), including some prog elements but in the end lacking substance.

This new EP isn't made of a few bonus tracks or outtakes that didn't make it to the album, this EP is pure blasting noise standing up on its own. The complex instrumental work is still so impressive, it really is a party for guitar lovers' ears. The staccado rhythms, the slow-building ups and downs, the well-thought sound additions make this record very tasty. One song out of four may be dispensable but it doesn't bring the listen down and with 'The letters EP', And So I Watch You From Afar are just making their discography a little more perfect.

4/5

Recommanded if you like:
Maybeshewill, Russian Circles, Gifts From Enola
Check also:
Adebisi Shank, You Slut!, We Are Knives

www.myspace.com/andsoiwatchyoufromafar
(Smalltown America, 2010)