Using music as an outlet for those experiencing dark moments is a past time that founding Rat & Co. member Josh Delaney might recall better than others.
The musician turned to music as a way to cope with his father’s passing, depression, and breakups.
Feeling Delaney’s pain on the band’s debut album is by no means a difficult task.
While you might expect such a melancholic release to be accompanied by tender or haunting lyrics, the Melbourne four-piece (also made up of John Wallar, Nick Park and Kaia McCarty-Smith) create fascinating soundscapes through rippling guitars, ambient beats and vocals that echo earnestly.
The layered new wave beats of One (壱) Uno (壹) Ein combined with the more traditional guitar and drums are all components which make up this well crafted debut album.
Dripping with passion, the sounds that filter through on the album’s ten tracks run seamlessly from one to the next.
The term ‘journey’ isn’t misplaced here, the LP won’t barely make as much impact as it can have when listened to in it’s entirety.
While the six minute ‘8 Bit Death’ is most likely to gain your attention first with it’s intoxicating electronica, dreamy songs like ‘Seawind’ and ‘Austin Chime’ slowly allure over time.
After the album’s most rollicking moment in ‘Now You’re Dreaming’, Rat & Co. take a more foreboding turn most obviously through closer ‘Dark Jam’, which sounds like what the title suggests.
For those searching for a cinematic score to soundtrack a time of deep introspection, they’ll find something fragile, intriguing, and elegant to accompany their brain waves.
