[Review/Listen] – Porcelain Raft – “Strange Weekend”

After a string of neatly arranged EPs, and an opening slot for M83, Porcelain Raft has finally released a debut album and “Strange Weekend” lives up to the hype.  The appeal of “Strange Weekend” comes from the layering of reverb-soaked instrumentation, punctuated by Mauro Remiddi’s sweeping vocals.  He ranges from crooning bedroom-pop to HEALTH-like vocals, which are textually thinner and sound more ambient.  Even though the music is wonderful, the production quality of “Strange Weekend” is light-years ahead of his peers.

The album opens with “Drifting In And Out,” a hazy testament to Remiddi’s skills as a musician, which is evident from his masterful songwriting and easy-going percussion.  It quietly builds up to the album, immersing listeners in a melodious cocoon. “Unless You Speak From The Heart” is the most striking track because of Remiddi’s aggression from the very start.  The jangly beat is most noticeably fueled by a basic drumbeat accompanied by a tambourine and provides a wonderful framing for Remiddi’s falsetto to break-out into high-flying melodies.  In comparison to the rest of the album, “Unless You Speak From The Heart” is the only one of it’s kind.  “Shapeless And Gone” is another stand-out simply because the fragility of the melody is addictive and can easily get lodged in your mind.

Remiddi offers a variety of sounds throughout the album.  “Backwords” is one of the slower tracks but his lyrics are displayed over a beautifully sparse, droning synth progression and eventually blooms as an all-out embrace of sound.  He’s the forefront of the track until halfway through when the music overtakes him.  Also, the clarity of the stop-go beat on “Picture” is satisfying to hear amongst the dreaminess of the rest of the album.  “Is It Too Deep For You” is the track most likely to be incorporated into future DJ sets with a mellowed-out guitar and urgent beat.  Remiddi’s wailing on the track shows a different side to his singing.

Some listeners may be unwilling to spend time with this album because it sounds one-note.  If you find that’s the case, I’d suggest that you turn the volume up, past your comfort range, and feel the atmosphere that’s created and altered by Remiddi in each track.  Honestly, my first few listens through this album were lackluster but I found myself humming melodies and craving specific tracks afterwards.  This album may take some time to grow on you but once it does, you’ll be hooked on Remiddi’s songwriting and musicianship.

Even though the current state of bedroom-pop is flooded with artists, “Strange Weekend” stands out as a keystone album speaking to how far the genre is capable of reaching.  It seems suitable for Porcelain Raft to have opened for M83 on their recent tour since they both seem to be exploring the spatial limitations of synth-driven pop music.  At any rate, with “Strange Weekend” Remiddi has provided a strong album serving as a proper introduction to Porcelain Raft.

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