Melodic Californian ambient indie band’s new album pushes quiet/loud to new peaks
written by Nick Roseblade
Anadel had a fight on their hands. They probably realised it at the time, but didn’t get the severity of it. While writing their new album Well and the Wild, they had to try and make an established genre sound new and fresh. The genre is Melodic Indie. We’ve all heard it, and bought it before. When we hear melodic indie we immediately think of Travis, early Coldplay, mid-period Incubus, and a slew of other bands. What Anadel have cleverly done is keep a similar structure and tempo, but added elements from different genres to try and create something new.
On the title track The Wild, Anadel add flourishes of ambient to their standard singer songwriter elements. The results are striking, as the songs sound fresh and slightly different to what else is going on. The Wild is also layered, not to within an inch of its life, but subtlety. The instruments are working with each other for the good of the song, rather than each player trying to show off their expertise in their particular field.
There are downsides to this album though, like with every album every made. After a few songs the lead singers voice starts to resemble Johnny Borrell (of Razorlight and Zazou fame) and grate a bit, like Johnny Borrell (of Razorlight and Zazou fame). While I might be in the minority, personally there is so much of this I can stand before I start craving instrumental breaks. Luckily there are plenty of these and it almost balances out. Ultimately Anadel should be commended, and not condemned, for Well and the Wild. They have stuck to their guns and made the album they wanted to make, and the subtle additions have only helped the tracks. Anadel are on the right track and hopefully next time they’ll release something that delivers totally.
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written by Nick Roseblade