Review by: Joe Jerger
Rating: 6/10
Opus Orange is an indie/folk/alternative band that has been releasing music consistently since 2010. Their latest album, Anatomic, was released late this January. The album’s 10 songs long, but well short of 10 songs deep. Like most bands within their genre, Opus Orange prioritizes lyrics over their usually softer music in the background. However, the unfortunate trend is that too many songs end up going almost nowhere special. Most songs start slow, pick up pace, but never really culminate to anything worth listening to again. At times, it seems like the band is trying to imitate Arcade Fire or something. Unlike that band, Opus Orange does not know to get adventurous. Don’t get me wrong, there are some solid songs on the album. “Anatomic” and “In a Shadow” (sounds like Miike Snow a bit) both have chorus’s to move to. My favorite track, “Slip Away”, contains a soft, beautiful chorus that proves that less can be way more. In the end, I was not satisfied with this album because it did not take enough chances. It is one thing to create calm music, but it’s another to engulf your listener within your album in the process . Anatomic did not do that, and gets a 6/10 for simply being “ok”.
FCC Violations: 3 and 5
RIYL: Bear Lake, Air Review, The Lighthouse and the Whaler, Arcade Fire
Favorite Tracks: 2,6,9
