Smaiblue – That’s Enough Love Songs, See You Soon
Travelling through warm auras and sweeping soundscapes, solo artist Smaiblue’s 2019 release, ‘That’s Enough Love Songs, See You Soon’, explores experimental stylistics similar to that of Brian Eno, William Basinski and The Caretaker.
Smaiblue - That’s Enough Love Songs, See You Soon
‘That’s Enough Love Songs, See You Soon’ could quite easily be a meditative accompaniment, providing flowing waves of gentle sounds for your mind to simultaneously glide with. The techniques and compositions featured throughout the ambient collection of tracks range from silky synth pads to thick, resonant waves and mantra-like singing. Multiple tracks can be likened to the soundscapes used in Brian Eno’s ‘Apollo’, encapsulating voids of echoes in a melodic style.
Opening up the album is ‘Navigate’ featuring vocalist Syauu. The song travels amongst flowing pads rooted with soft overlapping synthesisers. The lax, harmonised vocals feel like they’ve been plucked out of a track by The 1975, with their gentle phrasings wrapped in a subtle electronic buzz.
Instrumental track ‘How It Feels When It’s Just Us Being Close’ takes us through to ‘Last Love’. Solid synth chords introduce the song and are quickly followed by mantric vocals. The rhythmic, monotone vocals contrast with the delicate nature of the music, perhaps a little too much in this instance and feels slightly clashy. The vocals see more movement towards the end of the verses but overall feel slightly jolty.
‘Caught in September’ ignites a little more excitement in the vocals. They don’t travel too far out of their comfort zone, but the emotion can be heard a lot more clearly here. Over an arpeggiated bass pad and twinkly adlibs, ‘Caught in September’ definitely feels like a stronger track from the album.
‘Crimson Staircase’ and ‘Two Different worlds’ delve deeper into spacey soundscapes, but again clash slightly with the vocal style. The instrumentation feels very warm whereas the vocals have a dryer feel to them, needing a more of a boost to blend more efficiently with the music. The vocal style is repeated a number of times throughout the album and feels very repetitive due to the lack of variation/exploration they hold. They would have been fitting for maybe one or two tracks throughout the album to showcase different stylistic choices instead.
‘Waltzing into a Factory’ and ‘Our Hidden Warmth’ display beautiful levels of composition. The synths weave in and out of each other in a creamy blend, with electronic layers slowly building up to create a more substantial sound.
After the melancholic ‘Her Favourite Spot’ we are greeted by ‘The Way You Drift’. The introduction of the song sounds almost like a melody played on Tibetan drums, igniting a safe, ethereal atmosphere.
‘Glove’ takes us to the ultimate track of the album, ‘I Miss You’. The melancholic aura around the song certainly radiates the feeling of a goodbye, including a nod to the album’s title with the lyrics, “that’s enough love songs, see you soon”, stapling the end of the tracks.
As a whole, ‘That’s Enough Love Songs, See You Soon’ is a great example of what can be achieved through minimalist, ambient composition. The soundscapes are delicately tailored to each song to enhance different moods and atmospheres. There are certain songs that could have been just as effective, if not stronger if they were left as instrumental tracks as opposed to incorporating vocals that clash. That being said, ‘That’s Enough Love Songs, See You Soon’ is indeed a strong collection of ambient works and strong instrumental compositions. Check it out below!
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smaiblue/
Bandcamp: https://smaiblue.bandcamp.com/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/27FaanweZNzGUnk1MHjtZN