Olney Clark: Olney Clark

Olney Clark
Olney Clark
Friendly Police UK Records [2010]









Fire Note Says: Duo's debut finds a bridge between joy and loss.

Album Review:
The duo of Grant Olney and Barry DeBakey (Clark) have just recently released their self-titled debut record that challenges you on an intellectual level with its mixture of emotional isolation, as it stirs in both love and life. This atmospheric vibe makes perfect sense, as the songs here were written during Olney's Ph.D. in algorithmic algebraic geometry and following the death of Clark's father and grandfather. Clearly the subject matter and situations here would tend to push any mind set into this more dreamy state, as the vocals mostly hover above the subtle instrumentation. This dynamic however still works both ways, as many of the songs have bright foot tapping orchestration like in "Tea And Thunderstorms" and regardless of the story "Been Lost" continues a nice harmony filled mid-tempo pace, as it tells the story of back-to-back funerals. Olney Clark is a debut that takes several spins to get into, as the ten tracks average around 4 minutes a piece but they offer something new each time. It is a debut that shows much promise and moving forward the duo of Olney Clark could be one to watch!

Key Tracks: "Tea And Thunderstorms", "Been Lost", "King Of The Bees"

Bands With Similar Fire:
The Magnetic Fields
Kings Of Convenience
Sondre Lerche

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-Reviewed by Christopher Anthony