Finally more Broken Bells. The duo put out one of our favorite albums of 2010, back when we actually featured albums, and we’ve been wondering ever since if they’d come out with another.
Just a week or so back, Broken Bells teased us with a short (below) and now finally we get our first single. ‘Holding On For Life’ is a ghostly tune with Bee Gee like backups, but everything else is all Broken Bells signature. That familiar guitar strum, Mercer’s hauntingly good looking vocals, all with a slight build to keep it uplifting til the end.
Can’t wait to listen to the full album. I’m sure it’ll be good for many go arounds.
[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/118528380" iframe="false" params="player_type=tiny&font=Arial&color=292929" height="18" /]
I’ve finally found some rock that isn’t 40 years old. Of course, though, it had to be by one of the most abundant underground hip hop producers today, Danger Mouse. Danger Mouse has worked on a number of different projects including Gnarls Barkley, DANGERDOOM, The Grey Album – one of the best mashup albums to date – and now, to top it all off, he’s collaborated with James Mercer of The Shins to form Broken Bells.
When first hearing of Broken Bells on hypem, I didn’t realize the two had collaborated at the time. After realizing it, I knew I had to check out the entire album. I’ve listened to the album a few times through and so far it’s prettay, prettay good. The group reminds me a lot of Gorillaz, that sort of electric-inspired alternative rock. I like this new style, but haven’t immersed myself in it enough (any other suggestions). The album had two songs in particular that stuck with me. Of course, they’re the two singles off the album, the first being “The High Road”, which I instantly fell in love with, and “The Ghost Inside”, which took some time but is steadily becoming my favorite.
The reason I chose to feature “The Ghost Inside” over the other favored track is because it has something that I can’t really explain… or maybe I just have more to talk about with this one (I’m sure ill feature the other some other time). What might be the reason I like this one so much is because it, in particular, reminds me a lot of the Gorillaz. It has some quirky vocals that grow on ya, and some unconventional, hip hop inspired instrumentals (a lot like the Gorillaz). One of the sounds actually reminds me of the sound that the black smoke makes in LOST. I probably just got LOST on the brain because the final episode is tomorrow! But just listen closely and I bet you’ll hear it too. Anyways, check it – tell me what ya think.
[audio:TheGhostInside.mp3|titles=The Ghost Inside](Download Link in Full Article)