Of late, it has been darn near impossible to predict what aural curiosities the postman will deliver from the DiS reviews stash. In keeping with this trend, Pattern Is Movement are a band I may have come across (and adored) years down the line by process of elimination, but the fickle finger of fate has deigned to introduce them now.
While it’s difficult to accurately convey the off-kilter pleasures of All Together, as it is an unique beast, certain reference points can be drawn. The band delivers a similar quotient of beauty and unpredictability as the equally extraordinary Half-Handed Cloud, while clearly holding in reverie long-forgotten chamber pop gems from decades past.
Whether rollicking down aisles on the woodwind-doused ‘Trolley Friend’ or channelling the sounds of the animal kingdom on closer ‘Elephant’, singer/multi-instrumentalist Andrew Thiboldeaux and percussionist Chris Ward have developed their innate musical telepathy into something approaching the supernatural.
Even in the moments where the songs touch on discord, as with ‘Sound Of Your Voice’, they quickly lapse back into pretty piano melodies or honeyed backing vocals. Comparisons could loosely be drawn with skewed indie veterans like The Flaming Lips or Mercury Rev, but Pattern Is Movement are more likely to toy with classic pop structures, as a cat would with a ball of string, than swallow them whole as the aforementioned are wont to do.
There is just as much lust for the undiscovered as there is adoration for times past within this collection of songs. It is a deliciously abstract 32 minutes, yes indeed.
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8Tom Edwards's Score