Mad Honey : "Satellite Aphrodite"

Oklahoma is not my first guess for where Shoe Gaze is going to be coming from, but judging by the opening track to this album it is as good of a place as any. The lazy strum of  "Tuff's Last Stand" is deceptive of what is to come. There is a hazy web of effects and dense dreamy layers of guitar that recalls the early 90s soaking the rest of the album. Some verses are allowed to breathe amongst soft to louder dynamics in play. Vocalist Tiff Sutcliffe has plaintive coo that cuts through the layers of guitars swirling around her voice most of the time. The lead single "Fold" moves the most gracefully and eagerly embraces hooks amid the sonic wonderment they paint your ears with.

The effects are shed to some extent on "Larkspur" which strips things done so her vocals take center stage. This tells me they are more invested  in songs than a sound, which is a good sign. The cloud of oddly contoured feedback returns to lend it's hypnotic powers to "Eileen". The drummer is good about keeping these song moving, where they could get easily lost is a glassy eyed drone. When it comes to shoe gaze,  Lush might the be the most appropriate point of comparison. "E.T.Y.N" moves with more of a 90s alt pop feel. It's light and breezy while reflecting into more of a gray mood. Sutcliffe has a subtle way with melodies that paint an alluring narrative around these day dreams.  

The have done a weird layering with pitch shift vocal harmonies at varied points earlier in the album, which was more of an underlying texture, however this comes to the forefront on " r u feeling it?". It does lean more toward the sound focused side of what they do than the song focused side, but it is effective to switch things up. The guitars also have their most My Bloody Valentine moment on this song. Her vocals hold "Psycho" together, which is oddly titled given the sweetly sentimental guitar melody running through it. 

The sleepy strum of "Kamakura" is the first moment that despite the interesting layers of harmonies that it builds into still does not resonate as strongly with me. The drums arrive for "Concentration" and give things a much stronger focus than the previous song, despite the mood being more distant. The title track floats on the same feel as "Concentration" but not driven by the drum and allowed to drift further out to sea. I will give this album a 9.5, as the strongest suits anchor the airy tendency to float away as the focus on writing moving songs.