overwhelming and sprawling soundscapes that are sometimes genuinely impressive to behold, and for fans of dream pop styled music, this will be a delight.
But, frankly, there’s really not all that much else to say about this album
After forming back in 2017 in Austin, Texas, the four-piece Temple of Angels have been hard at work, between releasing two EPs and touring extensively with a variety of acts, including Narrow Head, Turnover, and Beach Fossils. Now, after COVID put original recording plans on hold, the band have finally dropped their debut full-length album, ‘Endless Pursuit’, a collection of songs that look at the light and shade in life through the band’s dreamy sound.
Throughout, there are catchy, well-polished moments that are wonderful to behold, such as the bright, 90’s-tinged alternative pop of ‘Tangled in Joy’ and ‘Waving to the Wind’, the latter with its shimmering duel guitars and thunderous percussion culminating in a brilliantly driving track that is wonderful to embrace. The band have a penchant for conjuring up overwhelming and sprawling soundscapes that are sometimes genuinely impressive to behold, and for fans of dream pop styled music, this will be a delight.
But, frankly, there’s really not all that much else to say about this album. ‘Endless Pursuit’ truly does just feel like a collection of songs tied together by the band’s style and little else, leaving it feeling repetitive as opposed to cohesive; there’s no clear concept to explore, and the band do little to push the boundaries of their sound, save for moments such as the post-punk tinged bass on ‘Torment’, culminating in an album that isn’t bad, but frankly… just a little boring and unimpressive.
‘Endless Pursuit’ serves as a decent opening track, but its minimalist lyricism accompanied by the often amorphous instrumentation means that it begins to feel incredibly drawn out by the two minute mark. ‘Torment’ attempts to add some gloom to the dreamy soundscape of the band but doesn’t execute this in a way that defines it from the rest of the album in any noticeable way, whilst ‘When The Shadow Smiles Back’ is musically interesting, with its ethereal gothic nature, but the repetitive and somewhat childlike lyricism once again holds it back immensely (‘When you left without a trace/The sun fell out of place/I’ll wait for better days’).
Which brings me to the album’s biggest flaw; the lyricism and songwriting. Considering just how ambient and ethereal the instrumentation is often presented as across this album, you would expect the lyricism to match the tone, but there is little nuance or magic to any of it; take the choruses of ‘Lost in Darkness’, for example, which overuses bars such as ‘I’m so lost without my heart/Like a flower plucked from soil/Like a moth drawn to the flame’, leaving the explorations of the album’s themes unfortunately feeling incredibly surface level.
And there are plenty more examples throughout the record that just feel incredibly vapid of any real deep sentiment or polish (such as ‘Your lips and your eyes/Your touch and your kiss/Such are the things that I often miss’) that leave the whole album just feeling a little uninteresting to engage with; there is nothing in the material here that you can really get your teeth into and explore in any meaningful way.
I wish I could discuss the album further, truly. But… there’s just nothing much to talk about. The instrumentation is well-polished but repetitive, and the themes sort of tie together in a half-baked attempt of a concept but end up just feeling like an assortment of similar tracks cobbled together on a single body of work instead of being derived from a conscious effort to write something that exists as a single piece of art. Lyrically it ranges from charming to insipid, whilst the music is mixed in a way that gives no space for any single element to shine, a real shame coming from the legendary Will Yip.
If you really, REALLY, want some more dream pop to listen to, if you just can’t get enough of the genre, then absolutely, ‘Endless Pursuit’ is probably going to suit you perfectly. But, otherwise, unfortunately Temple of Angels have produced something that gives little reason to return, a collection of songs that are performed well but lack any sort of real impact. It’s fine, it’s okay, it’s nice, but it’s not all that interesting.
RATING: 50/100 – Average
For Fans Of: Dear Boy, Slow Crush, Pale Waves, The Nightmares
Physical copies and other merch can be purchased here.
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